"Out of This World" salad

Gardening on the moon may one day become a reality, thanks to a group of scientists at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in College Station who teamed up with NASA for their "Salad Bowl" project. The researchers have grown stalks of wheat and heads of lettuce in low-pressure chambers that mimic conditions on the moon and Mars.

The development is a must for humans planning to live in space for lengthy periods because of the need for self-sustaining, fresh food sources, according to Fred Davies, PhD, a horticulturist working on the project. A full garden may be many months away, but "we are trying some different varieties of lettuce and some other salad bowl crops, such as Swiss chard," Davies says.

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