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Planting a Salad Table

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August 4, 2019

Salad tables were designed to provide a gardening experience for people with either physical, or space limitations.   The original idea may have been for growing delicious greens, but salad tables are not just for growing salads anymore. The Pine Belt Master Gardeners have been recognized for their salad table project. Let me show how to get one growing.  The first thing we need to do is fill it with growing media. We’re going to use a good commercial potting mix; there’s no top soil or dirt here. Fill it to about an inch from the top. It’s summer and the perfect time to plant tomatoes and peppers. Let’s start with the Red Bell and Mammoth jalapeno peppers. Scoop out a hole in the mix and place the transplants. With both peppers and tomatoes, I like to plant deep as the plants will produce more roots along the stem. Now let’s do the Heatwave determinate tomatoes.  Scoop out a hole, just like with the peppers.  Be sure not to over plant the salad table section.  I think three is the perfect number. Salad tables are also great for flowering plants. In this table, I’m going to plant some marigolds as companion plants because their pungent scent is reported to discourage a variety of insect pests. Now let’s sprinkle some vermicompost to help with the nutritional needs. For more information see the MSU Extension publication “How to Build a Salad Table”. If you, for some reason, can’t have a traditional in-ground garden, consider if a salad table meets your needs. I’m horticulturist Gary Bachman and I’ll see you next time on Southern Gardening.

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