Garden catalogues remind us that spring will follow winter and cause daydreams of beautiful flowers and vegetables. Order early or stop by a local nursery and buy seed packets and plant a garden salad of peppers, squash, cucumber, radish, lettuce and tomato.
Seeds should be planted by March, when average temperature is above 40 degrees, as it takes about 55 days from seed to plant.
Leaf lettuces can be grown in well-cultivated soil, in a raised bed or even in a container on your patio or terrace.
Select a sunlit space and be sure to water. Black Seeded Simpson is delicious, prolific and you will have fresh lettuce all season long.
Sow 4-6 seeds in each square foot of space in the ground or in containers. When seedlings are about 2” tall, thin them to about 6” apart if necessary.
A delicious plus is when thinning leaf lettuces you can eat them in your next salad so nothing goes to waste. Another plus is knowing where your food comes from, as you are growing an organic lettuce supply for your entire family all season long. To harvest leaf lettuces carefully clip just the leaves you want for your immediate use early in the day before the sun is too high in the sky as they will be less susceptible to wilt. Refrigerate and wash immediately before use.
Who says lettuce has to be boring? Growing a variety of leaf lettuce is a great way to get more variety in your salad without taking up a lot of space. I have a large container on my deck in which I plant bell peppers and lettuce to prevent the deer from grazing.
