Spring Garden 2014

[hendi_alex]

Lots coming off now. Here are a few of the plants that are currently being harvested. Lettuce has been producing for two or three weeks now. Smaller garlic has been harvested for a month or longer. We are also getting broccoli, various greens for steaming, leeks, onions, cilantro.

Three beds of various lettuce, plus garlic:

[Countryladiesgardens]

Wow! What lovely lettuces! Nice job Our season is just starting here

[JayPoc]

Looking good!

[McKinney88]

What kind of lettuce do you have? How do you know when to harvest leaves? I have two butter crunch plants but I don't know when to pick leaves or do I wait for a head to appear or what.

[JayPoc]

What kind of lettuce do you have? How do you know when to harvest leaves? I have two butter crunch plants but I don't know when to pick leaves or do I wait for a head to appear or what.

You can pick a few leaves whenever you want really. Pick the outer leaves and more will fill in in the middle. I do that all spring and harvest the bunches when they start to go to seed in the summer. If you have a head type lettuce, you can pick some of the outer leaves or wait till a good head forms. I've never really tried to grow to many head types, although I do have some iceberg going this year.

from last year:

[btrowe1]

Very nice start for 2014,love fresh lettuce. Didn't know you could pick garlic like one would pick a green onion.

[hendi_alex]

About three years ago, either someone mentioned it or the light bulb just clicked on. The whole plant is edible. Two years ago we started planting about 50 extra cloves, just to provide garlic in the period between last years cloves getting too old and the harvest of the new season cloves. Now we eat fresh garlic 12 months per year. When harvested early, they may not have quite the flavor of matured bulbs in early summer, but the plants beat the heck out of trying to stretch the past season's bulbs too far after they have gotten overly dry and have started to sprout.

[ElizabethB]

Hendi - Beautiful!

McKinney - the beauty of leaf lettuce is that you harvest the leaves and leave the plant. It continues to produce new leaves. Iceberg -head lettuce is a waste of time and garden space as far as I am concerned.

In south Louisiana leaf lettuce is planted early September for a fall and winter crop and again in January for a spring crop. Too hot for lettuce in the summer - even in the shade.

[Countryladiesgardens]

Here is our butter lettuce that we grew from seed, it has been in a cold frame on our deck..

[Cola82]

Such beautiful lettuces!