easy lettuce forever!

I like to buy those little plastic boxes, AKA clam shells, with mini heads of lettuce in them.  The heads are kept whole and are living, so they last a lot longer in the fridge then bagged lettuce AND they are usually a mix of flavorful nutritious lettuce as opposed to iceberg lettuce that might make you poop if you eat enough of it, but thats about it.  No nutritional value at all.

I get mine from Aldi, but you can find boxed heads pretty much anywhere.  Of course, they are a bit more expensive than the heads of iceberg, but we want flavor and nutrition here.  Besides, I'm getting ready to tell you how to make that $5.00 box of lettuce cheaper than a head of iceberg.

First, the lettuce as it comes from the store:

Obviously, mine is empty.  Don't throw away the box!!!  I'll explain in a minute.  

So, inside this little box are 4 different kinds of lettuce.  Usually these are made up of tango, romaine, butter, endive and/or lolla rosa.  A mild, medium, and bitter/spicy

Now, I won't get into how to eat it.  You all  can figure that out on your own.  What I will tell you is, you can get these little bowls with a kind of stand inside, called lettuce keepers.  My aunt happened to have one and gave it to me.  I thought it would make a good mini greenhouse.

See the little thinger in there? Aside from being a pretty fun top, originally you were supposed to jab your iceburg lettuce on there.  It was supposed to keep the lettuce fresh longer.  Whatever.  I'm using for basically the same thing.  

When you have nothing left of your lettuce but little nubs, you can float them in the turtle tank for Jelly Bean the turtle to munch on, or you can set them on this little grate thing, put just enough water in to cover the bottom and slap the cover on ( I don't seal it.  just set it on) and then set the bowl in the window sill.  Within 2 days, you will have this:

IT LIVES!!!  

That box I told you not to throw away?  Another greenhouse.  Use paper towels and wet the bottom, set your lettuce heads on top of the towel and set that in the window with the lid closed.  Make sure to check both containers every couple of days to make sure the water is fresh and there is enough of it to keep your babies moist.  Never have to buy lettuce again.  Takes up a little space on your window sill, but will feed you for as long as the lettuce will grow.