Lettuce

[DancingLady]

Someone mentioned to me about growing a type of lettuce that keeps growing continually and you can just cut off a couple of leaves every night for your salad and it makes more, rather than having to take the whole head.

What kind of lettuce is this? I want to get some seeds if I can and start some up inside right away. I just can't afford to buy lettuce anymore and really need to start growing it if I want to eat it.

 

[Chuck]

Someone mentioned to me about growing a type of lettuce that keeps growing continually and you can just cut off a couple of leaves every night for your salad and it makes more, rather than having to take the whole head.

What kind of lettuce is this? I want to get some seeds if I can and start some up inside right away. I just can't afford to buy lettuce anymore and really need to start growing it if I want to eat it.

Sounds like leaf lettuce. Normally when you plant lettuce seeds you somehow always end up sowing way too many seeds and when they get about 3 inches tall you start to thin them and use the thinnings. Leaf lettuce doesn't make a head like iceburg or romaine and you can snip off individual leaves as they grow. Another type of lettuce is called Bibb lettuce and it makes a semi-head and you can also use individual leaves of it if you like. All lettuce is a cool crop. As it gets warm it will bolt or go to seed. If you want something similar to leaf lettuce that has a longer growing period try Swiss Chard. Chard is excellent in salads plus you can also prepare it the same as you do spinach. In fact, many people including myself, prefer it over both spinach and lettuce

 

[headfullofbees]

Salad bowl red/green is the favourite cut and come again lettuce here, although I also lollo rosso/lolla bianci.
Word of warning, it doesn't last forever, as Chuck says, it goes bitter and bolts eventually.
It's also soft leaf, so you won't get the crunch of iceberg or romaine types, so if you want a bit more texture, add in some home-grown komatsuna, which will grow indoors all year round.

 

[marlingardener]

We grow leaf lettuces exclusively, because our temps get too warm too fast for the heading types to head up. Simpson's Elite, or Black Seeded Simpson is a great green-leafed lettuce; Midnight Ruffles is green with red tips; Oakleaf is shaped like an oak's leaf and tastes slightly peppery; and Ruby is red, red, red! Besides making a colorful salad, each has a slightly different taste. We use a very light vinagrette on leaf lettuce salads because it's easy to overpower their taste.
I pick the outer leaves and let the little inner leaves grow for picking in a few days. We plant in February, start harvesting in mid-March, and the lettuces usually last into mid-June.

 

[DancingLady]

Thanks, I will look for seeds soon. I know no plant lasts forever, but maybe I can save seeds from what I am growing to replant, that would be nice so I don't have to keep buying them.

 

[headfullofbees]

What kind of World is it when a 26-y-o cannot afford lettuce?
If I knew where, I'd send you the seed.

 

[zigs]

Mizuna is a good one for over winter.

Thanks, I will look for seeds soon. I know no plant lasts forever, but maybe I can save seeds from what I am growing to replant, that would be nice so I don't have to keep buying them.

Be warned, a Lettuce going to seed can get to 6 foot tall

 

[DancingLady]

Well, when you are making minimum wage and only getting 23 hours a week of work because it is the slow season and you can't find a second job because it is the slow season and no one is hiring. That's how. Organic lettuce is going for $3 a head now. I can't pay for that, and I don't want to get non-organic because I don't want to eat more pesticides.

 

[zigs]

I know that situation well.

Alfalfa sprouts are a really quick way of getting organic greens, only takes a few days and the seed is comparatively cheap, you can get a bag from wholefood shops or garden centres sell big bags for planting as green manure.

 

[headfullofbees]

Well, when you are making minimum wage and only getting 23 hours a week of work because it is the slow season and you can't find a second job because it is the slow season and no one is hiring. That's how. Organic lettuce is going for $3 a head now. I can't pay for that, and I don't want to get non-organic because I don't want to eat more pesticides.

I've been there and worse.
You have my sympathy.
I really will send you some seeds, if you'd like, perhaps to a PO Box for the sake of your privacy.

 

[DancingLady]

I know that situation well.

Alfalfa sprouts are a really quick way of getting organic greens, only takes a few days and the seed is comparatively cheap, you can get a bag from wholefood shops or garden centres sell big bags for planting as green manure.

Thanks for the tip! I hadn't thought of alfalfa as a people food since it is most common for animals or green manure as you mentioned. I'll be sure to ask some friends if they have any leftover.

 

[DancingLady]

I've been there and worse.
You have my sympathy.
I really will send you some seeds, if you'd like, perhaps to a PO Box for the sake of your privacy.

Thank you. I don't have a PO box, but some friends have leftover seeds and are going to give me a few for lettuce and kale. I don't have a ton of pots or window space, so I think I'll have everything I can work with for this time of year with just that.

 

[zigs]

Thanks for the tip! I hadn't thought of alfalfa as a people food since it is most common for animals or green manure as you mentioned. I'll be sure to ask some friends if they have any leftover.

I was relying on them and foraged food when the mortgage went up to twice my salary back in the 80's.

http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Alfalfa-Sprouts

 

[headfullofbees]

Well the offer remains open, and if you change your mind, then if not a PO box, I could send it to your friends.