There’s still time!
March 24
As you may have guessed by now I am somewhat of a lettuce fanatic. It is one of my favorite things and I like lots of it. As I mentioned in my post – Lettuce Time to Plant – the best the stores have to offer cannot match homegrown from the garden in my opinion.
As I predicted in that same post the warmer temperatures and increased daylight have caused the lettuce and spinach to grow much more quickly and I am happy to say that I am now getting some each day for lunch.
The 4 flats that I planted March 9 (see pictures of just planted flats in that post) now have lettuce seedlings in them. (See picture below.) Transplanting to the garden will start today but I figure any time for the next 7 days they’ll be optimum size considering the seedlings already have roots to two inches or more and come apart very easily. If I let them get bigger before transplanting, which I sometimes do, the roots tend to tangle.
You still have plenty of time to get your seed and plant if you have not already done so.
If you’re new at this get a good loose leaf lettuce like Red Sails or a spring garden mix (sometimes called salad bowl mix) that many of the seed companies offer. This no-fail approach will encourage you and get you off on the right foot.
Remember not every seed company has every lettuce. It would be so convenient if one place had it all, but that never seems to be the case. This year I ended up ordering lettuce seed from 5 different companies in order to get all the varieties I wanted.
If you are a seasoned lettuce grower, you are well aware that the sky is the limit for varieties to try.
A search on Google for seed companies and/or lettuce seed should give you a nice selection for review.
One more thing you may find interesting before I close: Years ago — so many I don’t even remember — I grew Nevada and Sierra which are Batavia lettuces. This year it will again grace my garden in two forms: #1. Nevada -savoy leaf, crisp, loose heads and #2. Tiede – tender crisp with dark red frilly leaves. Every day that I get good lettuce between July and September is a bonus. Thus, the accounts I have read of Batavia holding well in the summer heat is very appealing to me.
Another new (for me anyway) lettuce named Multigreen arrived in the mail yesterday. Not a head lettuce, but not a leaf lettuce either. Beautiful and is suppose to have excellent shelf life.
I’ll let you know how these new lettuces do, and I’d like to hear from you if you have a favorite that has good flavor and is especially bolt resistant in the heat.
Happy Lettucing!
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