Growing Lettuce.

The sweetest lettuce comes from a home garden. Nurtured, well watered lettuce grown in cool weather is hard to beat. For the same price as a head of lettuce, you can grow a 20 foot long row with one of our generous packets. That’s a lot of lettuce! Each variety has its’ own flavor and texture. Oakleaf, Romaine and Buttercrunch are favored by by our customers, but variety is beautiful in a salad bowl. Plant some Red Sails and Green Salad Bowl for different colors and textures. Simpson Elite and Great Lakes 659 were specially bred for warm climates. Successive plantings insure a steady supply when the summer heat causes lettuce to bolt. Keep your salad garden well watered as lettuce get bitter when it dries out and the sweet flavor does not return. Grandma planted a few lettuce seeds every two weeks all season long.

Heirloom lettuce seeds can be planted as soon as the ground can be worked. Preferring cool weather, the earlier you start it, the better. For a ‘cut and come again’ salad garden, simply sprinkle the seeds before the last heavy snows of early spring. They will know when to grow. For larger heads of lettuce, sow in garden 1/4′ to 1/2″ deep in rows 1′ to 1 1/2′ wide. Thin to 6″ to 8″ apart for leaf lettuces. For head lettuce, thin to 12″ to 18″ apart. Rich soil and plenty of water will produce the best tasting lettuce. Consider floating row covers for pest protection and to moderate temperature. Lettuce will tolerate light shade.

Good companion crops are beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chives, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, onions, radishes and strawberries. Fennel is a bad companion for lettuce, however it does not play well with others. 

Growing Lettuce.

The sweetest lettuce comes from a home garden. Nurtured, well watered lettuce grown in cool weather is hard to beat. For the same price as a head of lettuce, you can grow a 20 foot long row with one of our generous packets. That’s a lot of lettuce! Each variety has its’ own flavor and texture. Oakleaf, Romaine and Buttercrunch are favored by by our customers, but variety is beautiful in a salad bowl. Plant some Red Sails and Green Salad Bowl for different colors and textures. Simpson Elite and Great Lakes 659 were specially bred for warm climates. Successive plantings insure a steady supply when the summer heat causes lettuce to bolt. Keep your salad garden well watered as lettuce get bitter when it dries out and the sweet flavor does not return. Grandma planted a few lettuce seeds every two weeks all season long.

Heirloom lettuce seeds can be planted as soon as the ground can be worked. Preferring cool weather, the earlier you start it, the better. For a ‘cut and come again’ salad garden, simply sprinkle the seeds before the last heavy snows of early spring. They will know when to grow. For larger heads of lettuce, sow in garden 1/4′ to 1/2″ deep in rows 1′ to 1 1/2′ wide. Thin to 6″ to 8″ apart for leaf lettuces. For head lettuce, thin to 12″ to 18″ apart. Rich soil and plenty of water will produce the best tasting lettuce. Consider floating row covers for pest protection and to moderate temperature. Lettuce will tolerate light shade.

Good companion crops are beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chives, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, onions, radishes and strawberries. Fennel is a bad companion for lettuce, however it does not play well with others.