My New Summer Crop! #NoSlugs

Today's harvest in a water bath.  A few minutes soak/spin/ready for lunch.

I have never tried growing lettuce in the summer.  Always thought of it as a cool season crop.  BUT...with May Gray/June Gloom (heavy marine layer) which lasts until late morning and many times rolls back in in late afternoon, I thought I would give lettuce a try for early summer.

And it is working.  I have harvesting single salad servings each day.  Here's one reason I also am a new fan.  When I have grown lettuce in the winter, I find more slugs (eewww) and snails because of the cool/wet season.  Washing lettuce in the winter is much more labor intensive as you try to make sure all protein has been removed. (Even with vinaigrette, slugs are not that tasty.) This summer lettuce has had no slugs!  Yay!

Another reason lettuce is not a summer crop is that when it gets hit with the summer sun, it tends to bold (go to seed) quickly.  With the sun-less mornings, this has not been a problem...yet.  I know as soon as July hits, its good bye lettuce. 

What's in the White House Vegetable Garden?

My good friend, Kathi, was recentlly in Washington, D.C. and emailed this photo of Michelle's White House garden.

The garden includes spinach, peas, lettuce, broccoli, blueberries, raspberries and other vegetables and herbs--sorrel, thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, marjoram, chamomile, chives, garlic, hyssop, dill, cilantro, parsley.

Peas Please

Cool season plants are managing in this very odd year of weather.  Summer came and went under a sky of marine layers which did not dissipate until noon and returned by spring.  Now, we are experiencing 90+ degree days in November. 

I planted several sugar snap pea plants over six weeks ago and now I am enjoying the harvest of their produce.  This planting is small so the peas usually become snack food as I garden. 

I planted a larger group of peas several weeks later and they are growing into strong tall plants...no flowers yet.