Fresh lettuce
- Thread starter sissy
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You grew that now in your garden sissy in winter? That's really nice looking lettuce. Do you grow that w/ those door covered raised bed gardens? When did you start the seeds?
I started the seeds in January and planted all my veggies in something I learned a long time ago .I use course sand loam and pasturized manure and peat .Keeps the veggies cleaner and just add liquid growth food .Great for things like lettuce ,carrots,radishes,potato's ,and any kind of fast growing veggie .I have even planted my straberris in it and they are alreay out of the ground and I can see the flower buds on a couple .Great for blueberries ,raspberries and grapes also .It allows the fertilizer to get down where the plants need it more .Boy will you get a crop of potato's .
Neat sissy now did you just have them growing out in the open or in a closed up covered thingy?
The closed up bed and learned if you use a plastic or paper cup with the bottom cut out or even a string tied around the bottom keeps the head tighter closed so you can grow more in a smaller area .I bought one of those seed kits with all kinds of lettuce seeds in it at the end of season last year ,2 dollars and you got 4 kinds of lettuce and also got 3 kinds of spinach .Just different colors mostly as i could not tell a difference in taste .Being a vegetarian i really thought there would be a slight taste difference .But if they sell them off the end of season I surely will buy more of them ,they really grow great .They had other kits also so may try them too .hey you never know .Got good snow peas also really yummy fresh or steamed .That kit was only a dollar and had 2 kinds
Ok thanks sissy. I might have to try some winter growing of lettuce, radish, spinach and whatever else will grow in the cold in a cold frame or wonder if it would work in my greenhouse in winter. Think it might be too big of an area so would get colder in there, don't know?
I know back in NJ had a cold frame and used mirrors to help capture more sun in them .I got those small square 12x12 mirrors at the flea market and they would steam up the glass ,so got water and warmth in one .
Cool idea sissy or should I say hot idea!
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When planting lettuce to grow in the fall and winter, amend the soil used for the spring and summer lettuce. Use mushroom compost. Tilling and putting down lime helps the soil not to be so acidic. Romaine, ruby leaf lettuce, Bibb lettuce and spinach do well in the fall and, if protected with a freeze cloth, will do well during the winter.
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Even you can consider growing hydroponically. Lettuce grows fairly quickly so starting plants from seed is your best bet in hydroponics. Salina butterhead lettuce grows well hydroponically. But proper lighting is required just like any hydroponics garden. Lettuce is a cool crop and prefers media to be slightly cooler than most crops for germination. Since it is a cool crop, proper ventilation is important so the crop will not bolt or stretch.
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How fun! I love fresh lettuce but I seem to lose control of it so fast. I think we forget how fast it grows. So much can happen in only a few days of missed trimmings. Produce is getting really expensive and I think its only going to get worse. Having a great crop of lettuce like that is such a great resource.
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Nothing like fresh lettuce. I have it growing in my hothouse and when I make my wife's lunch in the morning to take to work, I nip out back, pick some lettuce leaves, wash them and dry in some paper towel. I add it to her feta cheese, grated carrot, cucumber and sour dough bread sandwiches. So easy and tasty.
Yummm that sounds really good!