Tips on harvesting lettuce

Harvesting is the fun part, and of course you don’t want to miss out after all your hard work! Be sure to harvest lettuce before it bolts upward. Lettuce tends to bolt in hot weather, and bolted lettuce is quite bitter. With looseleaf lettuce, you can harvest the outer leaves first to encourage new growth. Head lettuce varieties are mature when they are firm, well wrapped, and tight. To harvest mature lettuce, pull the plant out of the garden, cut roots with scissors, and quickly dip plant in cold water to maintain fresh, crispy lettuce. In the hotter months of summer, plant lettuce between or under larger plants to give it shade. And don’t forget to plant lettuce in succession (every 2-3 weeks) to ensure a regular crop!

A note about the soil in new raised beds

The Food Project’s raised beds are filled with compost. Sometimes the soil in new raised beds (those built in spring) still needs more time to settle. When this happens, gardeners might notice that plants stay the same size and do not appear to grow bigger. Usually, plants will take off by mid-July and eventually catch up in size and yield. Also, if this happens, by the second season, plants flourish easily in the raised beds. So, the bottom line is enjoy your gardens, have patience, and your gardens will thrive!

Raised bed report

Happy to report ours is thriving as well. We had our second salad (lettuce) last night and I made a big batch of pesto with the basil. The sugar snap peas are getting super tall. Sadly a raccoon (I think) got all our beans, so we need to plant more.