21 best crops for your edible garden

Leaf lettuce

Cool-season crop

All leaf lettuces (ones that grow in loose rosettes rather than heads) are great in salads, but ‘Oak Leaf’, ‘Red Deer Tongue’, and ‘Red Sails’ are especially pretty when tossed together. Fresh cut as baby greens, they’re sweet and tender. 

Plant in sun; part shade in hottest climates; all climate zones. 

Nursery starts often have 2 or 3 plants to a cell. Tease them apart and plant separately for a bigger crop. 

How to grow lettuce

NEXTRadish

 GIVE  GIFTS

GIVE FUN. Think about what your recipient will really use—a gift certificate to some yoga classes, a restaurant, a spa, or some cooking or wine-tasting classes.

GIVE FOOD. Make your own

bread, granola, cheese, truffles,

jam, cookies—anything that you

know will end up in someone’s

stomach rather than a landfill.

GIVE FAIR TRADE (or organic or

eco). Choose presents that are

made in an eco-conscious way,

out of green materials (recycled,

vintage, fair trade), or by an

environmentally friendly company.

8 Ways to Eco Chic Your Computer

from Natural Health

CHOOSE A LAPTOP —it uses a quarter of the power of a desktop.

SHUT DOWN your computer every night—you’ll save an average of $90 a year.

CHECK OUT THE NEW ECOFONT, which looks super cool and cuts down on ink usage by up to 20 percent. Download it for free here.

BUY AN EARTH-FRIENDLY INK cartridge at Grenk

RECYCLE YOUR INKJET CARTRIDGES for free at freecycling.com or the post office.

KEEP YOUR COMPUTER as long as you can—upgrade its memory and save some cash.

IF YOU NEED A NEW ONE, look for a computer that’s free
of PBDEs (toxic chemicals). Find a list of green desktops here: find a list of green laptops here.

RECYCLE YOUR OLD COMPUTER.