does anyone have any experience growing red & green butter lettuce? love the lettuce, hate the price at the market. thinking about trying to grow some next year - not sure but i think it's too late to plant it around here - i can't seem to find much info on growing it on the web.
thanks, rae
hey Jan,
thanks. didn't know it would grow that quick. i will go ahead and see if the local stores have seed for it. and yes, plenty of heat. yesterday's temp was 96 here at the house. it's 90 now. I've never saw anything but the standard iceburg lettuce grown locally and they plant that earlier in the year. but i'll see how it does. thanks for the input!
rae
Go get some seed and plant it. I'm on the second crop of Simpson Curled on my windowsill, planted in a little tin washtub-shaped planter.
It grows *fast*!
If you plant a few seeds every two weeks, you'll have a good supply of lettuce all season long.
It it's hot where you live, you can try planting lettuce in an area that gets afternoon shade, to keep it from bolting so quickly.
I always plant some leaf lettuce and pansies in the pots around my front door. They look really nice together.
Jan
Hey Rae, (kinda like the rhyme thing)
Jan is right. This year i noticed in the Seeds of Change catalog they are showing light requirements for different veggies and lettuce showed partial sun.
I experimented and planted some letuces in full sun and some in an area that receives only about four hours of direct sun during midday and darned if the mostly shaded lettuce wasn't better tasting, and like she said, hasn't bolted. Like she did, I planted some in pots, old fashioned varieties, and it has done great and looks great, with the different colors and leaf configurations. A couple years ago we started "landscaping" with vegetables. It is amazing how they work in with the flowers and other areas.
Gardening is one grand experiment. Seeds are cheap, even cheaper when you save seed. One year things may work, another not.
Have Fun Charlie
hey charlie,
thanks for the input.
still learning from the "masters", rachael (rae)
humm - why does that sound familiar?? lol
Charlie wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
*snip*
I'm moving my potatoes to cover my lettice then. That way, it should only get the mid-day/evening sun rather than sun the whole day.
Speaking of experiments, my potatoes are in 5-gallon buckets since we planned to move mid-june. We'll see how that goes, and the cost of seed was actually less than the cost of dirt and way less than the cost of the bucket. Acquisition is a disease, I tell ya...
Puckdropper
Sounds like you might be interested in a book by John Jeavons, "How to Grow More Vegetables..". It is about biointensive gardening, here's a primer of sorts.
I like the tater idea and will definitely try that next year. I too move pots around and shade stuff.
Yeah, I know what you mean about the acquisition thing! It is a
*major* source of contention with the missus. The town I live in has a twice yearly town cleanup, where you can put most anything out to be hauled off for free. It is friggin' *great*. For four days people are running all over town cabagging onto other peoples castoffs, before the haulers show up. Talk about bein' a Creeping Charlie!This year I liberated a bunch of stuff that I cabbaged last year, plus a bunch of other stuff, and hauled home a huge bunch of flower pots and a perfectly good weber keetle to join the other kettle and its three other grilling/smoking friends. I didn't gain any storage space. Most of the stuff I put out disappeared before the haulers got there.
i am always on the lookout for buckets!
BTW Puckdropper, I have *never* heard of anyone liking their garden so much they take it with them when they move! That is love!
Take care, it's an illness, I tell ye! Charlie
Other neat veggies for Edible Landscaping are Russian Kale and Bright Lights swiss chard. Both are gorgeous plants and really tasty. The best part about the Kale is that deer won't eat it, and it takes snow heavy enough to physically break the plant down to kill it. (It tastes better after a few frosts anyway.)
Seeds of Change puts out a beautiful catalog!
Jan
Hey Jan,
Once again, much thanks for the tips. Hadn't ever tried kale. Always fed it to the many pet rabbits my step-dad had. I guess by feeding it to them, I never thought to eat it myself. Any recommendations on it cooking wise? Gonna have collards for supper, we love them around these parts. To me they are better after frost too. Dry-weather collards are a little bitter to me, but still good to eat when cooked right. ( i don't think i have to worry about "frag" crashing my supper! LOL {in reference to his previous comment on greens on other post}). I checked out the website for seeds of change also.
Thanks again, Rae
Charlie wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
*snip*
I'll let you know what kind of results we get. My grandpa pointed out that if you plant taters in too small of container you'll get small potatoes. (I want them a little smaller than a fist.)
*snip: town cleanup*I've got a use for a few more of them myself. ;-)
Well, I'm only taking the potatoes and some strawberries. The other stuff is staying, but hopefully will be ready for harvest before we do move. Once the plant's established, 30 days can make a big difference.
Puckdropper
To cook kale, you can steam it, stir fry it or eat the young leaves in salads. Or (my favorite) steam it real quick, then saute it in butter & garlic, gently and not for too long. I'll dig out the "How to cook without recipes" book tomorrow and give you better instructions for that.
There are two kinds of kale and many cultivars. Kale is a very close relative to collards : )
Go read this:
Kale is a cool season crop. If you're down south, you'd have to wait until late summer/early fall to grow it.
Anyway, more later.
We have a darned grizzly bear hanging out around our place. The SO has spooked it off the driveway two days in a row. (We have to walk 1/2 mile to the mailbox this time of year. The driveway is too muddy to drive and we've been too busy to bring the 8N Ford tractor up here from the ranch to drive that in & out.) So we spent awhile this morning reloading the appropriate firearms with the heaviest ammo we have for everything. What a PITA -- I'm trying to put the garden in -- I hate having to keep the shotgun handy while gardening.
Jan
Thanks Jan,
I really appreciate it. I believe I am going to try your "favorite" way of cooking it - sounds good to me too. Wonder how it would be with vidalia onions?
The main variation of kale around here is the dwarf kind. We are definitely down south (NC) so if we like it I will probably try to plant some when the watermelons, squash, etc is over. Oh, I went ahead and planted some sweet butter lettuce too. We normally sow right in the ground - but I started these in some pots I had to see how they will do. Also have to wait until there is room in the garden for them. Might have to move some of my husband's hay equipment................of course that might not go to good (lol) - have to wait and see I guess!
Thank God we don't have grizzlies around here just yet. Due to growth in the mountains (we are in the southeastern sandhill/coastal region of NC), several bears have moved to our area in search of their natural style habitats. So we have black & brown bears now. 10 years ago, you would have never seen bears in this region. And I happen to know that keeping a gun handy while gardening or just outside with both the kids absolutely ain't no fun, too. (but we keep the gun handy for other reasons, such as snakes, cougars, bobcats, etc.)
Good luck with your bear watching! Rae
Jan Flora expounded:
Well, Jan, you certainly have larger problems there than the bunny and woodchuck that's threatening my garden!
Hi,
Grown some this year (only a couple to start) and had them outside but under one of those victorian style plastic bell cover cloches (spelling?). Done fantastic - just cut our first this evening.
Have also put out another two just now and have another three seedlings on the window ledge.
(UK - Sussex)
Should be OK I think
cloches n.f. bell shaped like an upside down vase.
- Bill Coloribus gustibus non disputatum (mostly)
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