In the garden...lettuce

I've really missed the "In the garden..." posts and am so excited to be starting them again.  Gabriel was kind enough to till up one bed for me last week.  It was still a little damp from the rain we had the week before and so it really needs one more going over before I plant anything.  But I went ahead a bought some potted lettuce from the feed store, re-potted them and added some more seeds.  So as soon as the bed gets tilled again we can plant the lettuce. 

Here's some tips for growing lettuce:

• Planting times in our area are Sept.15th to Feb. 28th
• Lettuce can be direct seeded or started in pots and transplanted into the garden.  We live in a pretty warm area so we just direct seed the lettuce.
• I like to just sprinkle seeds in the row without worrying about spacing.  As the lettuce grows I thin the plants and we eat them. 
• Lettuce roots are very shallow, so they need to be watered often. 
• Try to plant a some seeds every few weeks during the season so that you will have lettuce throughout the season.
• Lettuce really likes cool weather.  When it gets too warm it will bolt (flower and produce seeds) and turn bitter. 
• Lettuce will scorch if it gets frost on it and will wilt if it freezes.  So either use a cold frame or if you live in a mild winter climate you can just cover them when it is going to freeze.

Our end of the season lettuce last year.

Problems and Pests:

• Lettuce is very easy to grow and rarely has problems.
• Caterpillars can eat holes in the leaves and you can use bt on them

Harvesting and Storing:

• When the lettuce is thinned, we stop pulling up plants and just cut a few leaves off each plant. We mainly plant leaf lettuce not head lettuce.
• Lettuce does not store long, once it is harvested it needs to be washed and can be stored in a zip lock bag wrapped in a paper towel.  This will keep it fresh for a week or so. 

This post is linked to Barn Hop at Homestead Revival.