What I'm Planting for a Fall Kitchen Garden

My husband and I have been eating A LOT of those chopped bagged salads lately.

They're convenient, somewhat healthy, and if you throw some grilled chicken on top, they're pretty much the easiest dinner in the world.

But every time I put them in my shopping cart, I have a little twinge of guilt.

Partly because they're $4 a bag and that adds up. Partly because of all the plastic-inside-plastic-inside-plastic.

And after spending $8 on lettuce for dinner one too many times, I had a thought:

I have a garden. Why am I buying lettuce?

So, time to do something about it.

Starting with lettuce

I've cleared some space in the kitchen garden and planted three different kinds of lettuce: arugala, romaine and kale.

It's still pretty hot here, so I'm experimenting a little. I planted some seeds in direct sun and tucked others underneath the foliage of my tomato plants where they'll get a bit more shade.

Will this work?

I have no idea. 😂

But that's half the fun.

What I'm planting next

As the weather cools down, I'm planning to add a few more fall crops:
Carrots

Radishes

Broccoli

Garlic

Onions

And probably anything else I convince myself I need while standing in front of the 40% off seed display.

My goal isn't anything enormous. I'd just love to be able to walk outside, cut some lettuce for dinner and leave the $4 plastic bags at the grocery store.

We'll see what happens.