I made a dirt cheap garden with my DIY ‘poor man’s grow box’ – I’m already munching on my harvest
A SAVVY outdoor fan has shared how he created a budget-friendly small oasis using cheap items.
He DIYed a “poor man’s grow box” that sprouted into a plentiful harvest good enough to eat.
Reddit user Kofi_kat is a fiscally-responsible gardener, who put their creative skills to use for a good find.
He revealed in a post how the acquired heads of lettuce from their local food pantry.
The roots were still attached, which meant that there was an opportunity for them to grow.
“What’s your goal here? To flower the lettuce,” another Redditor asked.
“Yep! Just harvesting the leaves until they’re ready to bolt,” he replied.
“I wonder if you can just harvest the leaves and they will grow back,” a Reddit user inquired.
“You can! It’s called “cut and go”. Harvest the outermost leaves as needed and let it keep growing without harvesting the whole head and it should give a few rounds of harvest,” another answered.
Kofi decided to get crafty with a cardboard box to create a “poor man’s grow box.”
“Definitely not poor. You’ll get a heart container or stamina!!” one person commented.
Kofi showed in a photo how the flower heads were nicely lined up in the medium-sized cardboard container surrounded by soil.
He surrounded the four box walls with coconut fiber carpet.
“The coconut fiber catches water from soaking into the cardboard. Holes are bored in the bottom, in case I couldn’t toss a tarp over it before a rain shower hits,” he explained.
Kofi agreed and clarified that the reused box was the focus and not the green produce themselves.
In another photo, he shared a close-up of the DIY garden, complete with a small goddess statue figurine.
Even in the image, you could see how smooth and fresh the vibrant, lettuce leaves looked, and some said they weren’t finished growing.
“They’ll get bigger. You’ll get two to three times the harvest before they start tasting less buttery,” someone said.
In the last photo he shared, the thick lettuce heads are on his kitchen counter with their fully-grown roots on full display.
They were ready to eat, and Kofi said he was “already munching on them.”
Other Redditors couldn’t get over how tasty it looked.
“My doctor has me intermittent fasting. It’s almost 3 o’clock in the afternoon and I have yet to eat today. I am only here to say that that butter lettuce looks fabulously delicious,” one said.
Easy gardening tips to save money, maximize space, and repel pests
*If you click on a link in this article, we may earn affiliate revenue.
- Banana peels, vinegar, and coffee grounds are often recommended as natural fertilizers.
- Dollar Tree sells four packs of seeds for $1.25.
- Try a vertical planter like Amazon’s Mr. Stacky 5 Tier Stackable Planter, $35 to make more use of a small space.
- Use netting like the Garden Netting Pest Barrier, $8, from Amazon to keep away bugs that eat your vegetables.
- Try sacrificial planting to reduce the use of pesticides and keep pests away from your garden. Deliberately growing certain plants to attract agricultural pests can keep them away from the plants you want to protect. Examples include marigolds, lavender, catnip, and chives.
- For pesky weeds in your garden, the Grampa’s Weeder – The Original Stand-Up Weed Puller Tool with Long Handles, $45, from Amazon is a helpful tool you can use without having to bend over.