Harvesting Lettuce - Again!

Yesterday I picked lettuce again. I took the outer leaves from every plant and it took me about 30 minutes. I harvested enough lettuce to completely fill my garden basket and the plants still look pretty much the same! We had a big salad last night for dinner and I have a 2 gallon ziplock bag full of the remaining lettuce in the fridge.  The lettuce I grow is so tender it would never make it to market unscathed. As Rick was raving about the salad he was eating, I told him “you’ll never get this kind of lettuce in the store or in a restaurant!”  I encourage you to grow lettuce. It’s one of my favorite crops because not only is it beautiful, but it’s hardy in colder temperatures, produces a lot of salads over a couple of months, and it’s indescribably delicious.  Last night I topped it with a few cherry tomatoes and some cubes of feta cheese and drizzled olive oil and fresh lemon juice all over it. Add a generous pinch of salt and a few coarse grinds of black pepper and voila! Delicious tender tangy fresh salad. Yum.

I’m still waiting for my onions to mature. I think the cold shocked them but they’re still alive. This week I’ll concentrate on watering them well and fertilizing them with some kelp and see if they start to fatten up. I’ve pulled a few but they were still skinny. They taste just as good but it takes 4 or 5 to highlight a salad.

This is thyme growing in the front of the lettuce bed. It is happy being in the full sun and it doesn’t encroach on the lettuce or vice versa.  Fresh thyme is always a good herb to add to most savory meat dishes, onion soup, most soups for that matter. To remove the leaves, just strip the little stems from the top down. In soups, I usually tie a few sprigs together with some kitchen string so I can remove the stems when the soup’s done. It adds its own special flavor to foods, having sort of a lemony taste.

Whatever your preference, if you love it, grow it!

Happy gardening!