Yes! I hope I can repeat it, ha! The longer I garden the more I define success by daily eating from my garden (something, anything) over big, photo-worthy hauls of produce in stops and starts.
Awesome post! I’m gonna save it so that I can revisit it in autumn when we start doing greens more intensely. I have some salad greens going in the partial shade for the summer, and I’m hoping for the best. Everything I planted in early spring that is in full sun has already bolted!
Me too! I just ordered some from a local Seed company that they specifically recommended for warm temperatures. But I think the other thing I found really useful, but your article was just being more okay sowing more and harvesting more rather than trying to keep them going. In the past, I think if my lettuce didn’t last six or eight weeks, I thought it failed. Now I’m wondering if that is just too much at odds with what the plants themselves find natural and what their life lifespans are supposed to be. When I think of just being more accepting about sowing every couple of weeks, that feels really different.
Yes! That was exactly my big aha this year! More sowing and more harvesting. Right now, I have fully bolted spinach almost ready for harvesting seed AND I’m still harvesting baby spinach to eat every single morning from the younger plants that I sowed in March.
Thank you! I had a half dozen romaine plants survive our 7b winter and still tasted good even though the leaves were battered. Am convinced.
Am experimenting with growing lettuce and spinach in a shadier spot this spring, but they are slow to take off.
Also tried throwing a bunch of old seeds on my greenhouse beds in fall. Amazing how many came up. Did a chop and drop on them in late winter. Will try a more organized direct seeding this fall to actually get some harvests before the chop and drop.
That's awesome! I am convinced too! I haven't dealt with slugs, and honestly, I'm so confused by the roly polies. I have tons of them and they have left the lettuce and greens alone completely. Who knows? But I'm happy ha!
I wash outside and use it to water the plants…..here in So Cal it’s hard to grow lettuce between June to Sept…I’m experimenting with heat tolerant lettuce.
Purple Fusion and Adriana are good….now I am trying Muir…I ordered every lettuce seed At Johnny’s that said heat tolerant and lettuce aphid resistant because I had so many problems last year. Plus always hearing about contaminated Romaine from the store.
Very complete sharing of your experience gained knowledge! Thank you.
You're welcome! I'm always learning and failing and trying again, ha!
This is the dream!
Yes! I hope I can repeat it, ha! The longer I garden the more I define success by daily eating from my garden (something, anything) over big, photo-worthy hauls of produce in stops and starts.
That’s such a healthy way of measuring success, I love it
Awesome post! I’m gonna save it so that I can revisit it in autumn when we start doing greens more intensely. I have some salad greens going in the partial shade for the summer, and I’m hoping for the best. Everything I planted in early spring that is in full sun has already bolted!
Thanks, Rebecca! I’m starting some supposedly slow-bolting varieties now in hopes I find a green to get us through summer. I’ll report back!
Me too! I just ordered some from a local Seed company that they specifically recommended for warm temperatures. But I think the other thing I found really useful, but your article was just being more okay sowing more and harvesting more rather than trying to keep them going. In the past, I think if my lettuce didn’t last six or eight weeks, I thought it failed. Now I’m wondering if that is just too much at odds with what the plants themselves find natural and what their life lifespans are supposed to be. When I think of just being more accepting about sowing every couple of weeks, that feels really different.
Yes! That was exactly my big aha this year! More sowing and more harvesting. Right now, I have fully bolted spinach almost ready for harvesting seed AND I’m still harvesting baby spinach to eat every single morning from the younger plants that I sowed in March.
Thank you! I had a half dozen romaine plants survive our 7b winter and still tasted good even though the leaves were battered. Am convinced.
Am experimenting with growing lettuce and spinach in a shadier spot this spring, but they are slow to take off.
Also tried throwing a bunch of old seeds on my greenhouse beds in fall. Amazing how many came up. Did a chop and drop on them in late winter. Will try a more organized direct seeding this fall to actually get some harvests before the chop and drop.
Slugs are my worst enemy.
That's awesome! I am convinced too! I haven't dealt with slugs, and honestly, I'm so confused by the roly polies. I have tons of them and they have left the lettuce and greens alone completely. Who knows? But I'm happy ha!
I wash outside and use it to water the plants…..here in So Cal it’s hard to grow lettuce between June to Sept…I’m experimenting with heat tolerant lettuce.
That's a great idea! And I'm experimenting with a heat tolerant kind this summer, too. It's called Anuenue Batavian lettuce. Fingers crossed!
Johnny’s seeds has many heat tolerant also resistant to lettuce aphids which is also a big problem here in warmer weather.
Have any specific favorites?
Purple Fusion and Adriana are good….now I am trying Muir…I ordered every lettuce seed At Johnny’s that said heat tolerant and lettuce aphid resistant because I had so many problems last year. Plus always hearing about contaminated Romaine from the store.
That's a good experiment! Thanks for sharing what you've learned so far!