Eat your own garden fresh green lettuce

 

Green lettuce:

There are three seasons for growing lettuce.

Spring:

Sow a seed 1 -2 weeks before last frost date. If you plant seedling insert row cover over your plants to moderate the air temperature. Remove the row cover as the weather warms.

Summer:

Sow a seed at 68 ⸰F. seed will become dormant at 85 ⸰F. store your lettuce in refrigerator and cool down the soil before a few days planting. Water the soil and put down burlap bags to keep the soil moist, dark and cool. You can also put ice on rows after sowing immediately. Direct sow or transplant plant under the shade. Salad yield can be improving at 85⸰F. cover the plants with shade cloth.

Fall:

In short day’s lettuce matures late. Cover the plants with row cover on cold nights.

Irrigation:

Keep the soil moist but not waterlogged. Before the seedlings sprout, use a spray bottle. After sprout appears use a watering can.

Fertilizer:

Fish emulsion is best for lettuce plants give them weekly.

Thinning:

Leave the distance 3-4 inches between plants.

Mulching:

In dry areas use mulch to keep plants moist. After thinning the plants, spread 2 inch layer of organic mulch around each.

Trimming:

Use a scissors to cut off the outside leaves.

Harvesting:

Its best to trim the outer leaves but if you want harvest the plant cut the plants 1 inch above the ground, in this way the plants grow again.

Storage:

Put the salad leaves in large container filled with cool water and swim them around. Then put them in strainer and give the leaves one more rinse. Put the leaves on paper towel and dry with some more paper towel. Use linen towel if you can. Store the clean, dry lettuce in plastic zipper bag. Push the air out before zipping out. Store it in the refrigerator. Lettuce will usually keep from six to eight days.

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