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. 

Inside Lettuce and Herb Garden

I'm not sure how they did it, but look at these three darling planters filled with herbs and lettuce.  The herbs aren't that surprising as an inside plant.  I haven't seen lettuce so robust as an inside plant, however.  The room these planters were located in was bright and did have a set of skylights.  The skylights weren't really near these plants. 

Lovely Lettuce from the Winter Garden

Upside Down Hanging Basket Protects Tender Young Plants from Rabbits.  Chives are growing nearby.

I've been enjoying lettuce for the garden for six or seven weeks.  I like buying cell-pack plants with a variety of lettuces.  It gives me a wonderful selection of lettuces for salads.  I've planted twice after the original planting to continue to be able to enjoy lettuce through this season.  It's a good thing as I have already seen two of the lettuce plants getting ready to bolt.

The last planting is only butter lettuce.  Always a favorite.

Lettuce Celebrate Cool Season Gardening

Love cool season gardening in California. From the garden, a variety of lettuces, fresh and crisp.  I lvoe the lettuce called "freckles."  If is green with reddish/brown spots (around 7 o'clock in the bowl).

Prepping Lettuce From the Garden

After picking lettuce, a deep soak.

Each leaf hand washed to remove any garden debris or little garden pest.

Next into the spinner for a quick dry.

The rinse water is carried to the gardenia plants for a deep drink.

My prize lettuce, ready to bag and refrigerate.

Harvesting lettuce has become a fast little ritual which I perform. First, lettuce should always be picked in the cool of the morning or evening. I made the mistake of picking in the heat of the afternoon a few days ago, and had to plunge the lettuce in an ice bath to revive it!

I do a multiple wash depending on how much garden debris is in the water after each wash. In the winter/spring, I find the lettuce has more dirt on it because of the splashing rain. But if the second rinse yields too much dirt, I do another deep soak and quick rinse.

I have found small batches in the spinner is the most efficient way to dry the lettuce for bagging.

Finally, let no water be wasted. The gardenias are on a drip system and I can supplement their regular watering. In the heat of the summer, they love the extra drink. In the winter, the irrigation system is off because of the winter rains. The gardenias are under a covered entry, so this becomes their regular watering.

Shade Cloth Experiment in the Garden

After a spring of fresh garden lettuce, I was having a hard time letting go of the daily fresh lettuce selection. After all the spring lettuce bolted, and the poles for beans were in place, a solution was staring me in the face. The space between the pole beans would be an excellent location for lettuce growing under a piece of shade cloth.

The shade cloth purports to shade 70% of the sun from the plants below. So far, the experiment is a success. I have wonderful lettuces growing in abundance below the cloth. The real test will come as we leave the month of June with its heavy marine layers each day. I will be happy if the lettuce keeps producing for four more weeks.

Lettuce: Just a Cool Weather Crop

This is my last planned planting of lettuce for the spring season.  I have a scheme in mind to see if I can have a prolonged growing season for my lettuce.  I've planted these plants in an area between two tomato cages.  I can place shading supported by the cages to lower the amount of light the plants get.  Additionally, I will hand water these plants to make sure they are getting consistent moisture. 

I'm looking forward to seeing how long these lettuces will last into the warm season.

Have you had any success in elongating your lettuce growing season?

California Garden: Rain + Sun = Lettuce, Lettuce, Lettuce

After a triple wash and a quick spin, lettuce is ready for creative toppings.

A garden planted with lettuces starts kicking into over drive as spring comes in like a lion and turns into a lamb.  The weather is still cool to keep the lettuce from bolting, winter rain (supplemented with occasional hand watering) provide the moisture needed and the increased sunlight hours create a gardening trifecta.

With the increased production, you might tire of salad at every meal.  You can beat the salad blahs with some simple ingredients.  Toss them in and you've got a new creation making each salad a unique taste sensation.

California Salad

Romaine Lettuce
Crispy Bacon Crumbles
Avocado Slices
Sourdough Bread Croutons
Tarragon Vinaigrette Dressing

Dried Cranberry Salad
Mixed Salad Greens
Dried Cranberries
Toasted Walnuts
Bleu Cheese Crumbles
Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

Southwest Salad
Romaine Lettuce
Black Beans
Corn Kerrnal
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Crumbled Tortilla Chips
Ranch Dressing

Greek Salad

Romaine Lettuce
Black Olives
Diced Hot House Cucumbers
Diced Tomatoes
Feta Cheese Crumbles

Arugula Salad

Arugula Leaves
Candied Walnuts
Sliced Ripe Pears
Bleu Cheese Crumbles
Vinaigrette Dressing

Spring Strawberry Salad

Mixed Greens
Strawberries
Toasted Almond Slivers
Goat Cheese
Balsamic Vinaigrette

Weekend Harvest of Lettuce and Peas

These snap peas are going to be used in a stir fry and we'll have a lovely salad as well.

A Whorl of Lettuce Leaves

My lettuce continues to grow.  I've planted several varieties.  This particular lettuce is not appealing to the bunnies, apparently, because it grows without protection and has not been nibbled to the roots.

Because of the unusual heat, several of my early plantings of lettuce have bolted.  I picked up a six-pack at Plant Depot earlier this week.  With the extremely high temps, I decided to hide it in the shade and plant once daily temps become more reasonable.

Protecting Lettuce from a HOT Day

Earlier I placed my lettuces under this hanging plant basket to protect them from hungry bunnies.  Today we have an unusually hot November day.  I placed the lid of my composter on top of the basket to provide my newly planted lettuces a little shade.

"Green" Lettuce from the Garden

Sunny day in California and so I made my way to the garden early this morning.  I picked a small bowl of lettuces.  I always do a triple wash for my lettuces.  I have a large salad spinner in which I place the lettuce.  I fill the container up with water and gently aggitate the water to remove any dirt or particles from the lettuce.  I do this two times.  The third is a hand wash inspection of each leaf.  It takes a bit of time, but I would not be happy finding a slug on my lettuce during my meal.

The "green" part of this process is that I take each container of dirty water to the garden to water something.  Usually, I like to water the two gardenia bushes which sit beside my entry door.  Because they are under cover, they have not benefited from the rains we had last week.  During the rains, I turn off my sprinklers so they were ready for a little water.

Tricking the Rascally Rabbits

I've never had a big problem with rabbits before this year. Now the critters are eating my produce and I prefer not to share. Looking for an easy way to keep them out of my lettuce, I found these hanging wire baskets at my local garden center. By turning them upside down, I keep the rabbits out but allow water and sun to enter. And harvesting the lettuce is as easy as picking up the cage. Finally, I will be able to enjoy a nice garden salad this fall.

(Two notes: We had big rains yesterday, so my lettuce is quite dirty. Also, the rabbits are not so interested in my nutty, peppery arugula so it can stay outside the cage!)

Protecting Lettuce from the Heat

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We've had unnaturally hot weather (98 degrees) the past few days--in fact a heat wave. I say unnatural because April in California near the ocean usually sees temps in the 70s. We rarely get heat waves even in August!

This lovely devise is my meager attempt to shield the lettuce from the withering heat. Feel free to comment if you would find this contraption too tacky for your garden! I might step it up a notch to lengthen my lettuce growing season. I am picturing garden cloth stretched between a pvc frame stretched to keep a shady spot into June.

Yesterday two of my artichoke plants went prostrate in mid afternoon. Upon witnessing the meltdown, I doused them with buckets of water. This morning they were at full attention again. I'll be monitoring them throughout the day but hopefully the deep watering yesterday will do the trick.

Artichoke after buckets of water and a chilly night.

Salad Bouquet

The bunnies are on hiatus--perhaps off to Big Bear for ski week. The lettuces are growing strong. Most of my lettuce plants are single varieties. I'm not sure how this bouquet grouping came to be but stunning it is. The lettuce bouquet is comprised of arugala, romaine, oak leaf lettuce, and red leaf lettuce. This will make a perfect single salad serving.

Romaine Lettuce Bolted

I wasn't able to keep up with the romaine lettuce and it has bolted--gone to seed. Once lettuce bolts, it is bitter to taste. The composter may be getting a addition in the near future.
I think I can plant another batch before the weather is too hot.