Has anyone ever grown lettuce in a wheelbarrow?

[c oliver]

Years and years ago, probaby in Sunset mag, I read about growing lettuce in a wheelbarrow. The point is that it can be moved into a shadier area as the day heats up. I have the opposite idea. We live in the mountains where a normal midsummer day gets up to about 75. Also we don't have many sunny areas but we DO have many squirrels and chipmunks. I got to thinking that I could plant lettuce in a wheelbarrow and "chase" the sun around my deck. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Cherylptw]

Last year I planted mesclun mix in a wheelbarrow; since there were different colors, it looked pretty in the red barrow. It was easy to do & with great results

[c oliver]

I'd also considerined the aesthetic benefit. Thanks for posting.

[greygarious]

That rings a bell with me, too, though I don't know where I saw or read it. I think they put a layer of straw under the topsoil, to reduce the weight in the wheelbarrow. You could use a red wagon or some other wheeled cart to move around a shallow plastic storage tote transformed into a planter by making drainage holes. Or how about one of those wheeled under-bed storage containers?

[JerryMe]

I like the idea of straw or a little red wagon to off-load the weight. I do have plants in containers on flats w/ wheels and I move them around. Mostly to avoid the sun in the summers here - extreme heat. Once the containers get to be a certain size, weight, I have a really hard time pushing them around - as in it takes all my body weight and I start to get neglectful. I don't know if that would be an issue for you COliver, but something to consider.

[c oliver]

I like the straw idea alot. Certainly don't need alot of soil for such shallow rooted plants. I used to have a little red wagon but do still have a couple of wheelbarrows. After spending some years shoveling and then wheeling around large amount of horse manure, I got the technique down quite well :)

[Gio]

Straw will decompose, which can be a good thing, but those ubiquitous white shipping peanuts are very light and would reduce the weight and prevent the lettuce from becoming water-logged. I've used them in barrel containers successfully.

[c oliver]

Great idea. I think I've read about putting porous shade cloth as a layer between which makes replacing and adding to the soil easier. They're predicting another foot of snow here today and tonight so my lettuce is still a couple of months away from even thinking about. Our summers don't really begin til late June, early July.