Potato Bag Planted, Lettuce Growing Nicely

In my last entry I told you about the potato bag that I was going to try out this year. Well, I planted 6 Yukon Gold seed potatoes in this new bag on last Wednesday, April 23. I filled it about 1/3 full and planted the seed potatoes near the bottom of the bag. I used about 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 top soil, and 1/3 composted cow manure. As the eyes sprout and begin to form leaves, I will cover them over with more of the mix. This will cause the sprouts to form more tubers/potatoes, which is want you want. See the picture below for a picture of this potato bag. I placed it right on top of the gravel drive behind my small plot of chives. You can get one of these Potato Bags from Gardener's Supply Company by clicking here: Potato Bag

My lettuce is finally starting to grow. The weather has been unusually warm for this time of year, so I removed my plastic cover on my hoop and replaced it with a row cover. This helped out some of the lettuce seedlings that were wilting due to the excess heat that was building up under the plastic. See the picture below for a look on how the lettuce is growing under the hoop today.

The weather forecast is for cooler than normal temperature for the next few days or so. A low of 32 degrees F is predicted for Tuesday morning. I am waiting to plant my broccoli and cabbage plants until after that. They should be in the ground already, but this is the type of spring we have had so far.

I have been harvesting green onions (from my fall planted topsetting onions), and also chives.

Spring Lettuce Planted

The weather has finally turned warmer!!! I did plant some lettuce seedlings out into the garden on April 16th and a few more yesterday under the plastic hoop. Because of all of the cold March temperatures, this is about 2 weeks later than I normally like to get the lettuce in the ground. Here are the lettuce seedlings I have planted so far: Salad Bowl, Sierra, Nevada, and Grand Rapids. I am still waiting for the lettuce Green Towers seedlings to get a little bigger in order to plant out into the garden. The garden peas have started to poke up through the soil. I have harvested a few green onions already with many more to come. My brother will be planting Yukon Gold potatoes within the next week and I am going to also plant potatoes in my new Potato Bag (check back for updates on this). I am going to try to get my Pakman broccoli seedlings in the ground in about 7 to 10 days, with the cabbage and brussel sprouts not too far behind that. I figure I am probably about 3 weeks away from the average last frost (Knock on Wood).

All About Growing and Harvesting Lettuce

If you have been reading my blog and web site for any time, you know my fondness for lettuce. In the May 2008 issue of Organic Gardening Magazine there was a very good article about growing lettuce. It might be one of the best articles I have read about lettuce. It listed the different types of lettuce and their overall qualities. The types of lettuce are as follows: Looseleaf, Butterhead, Romaine, Batavian, Crisphead. Looseleaf types are general faster maturing, but are less heat tolerant. They are probably a better choice for the early spring garden. Butterhead types (also called Bibb or Boston) I have found are generally more heat tolerant and form small heads with dark green outer leaves. Romaine might be my favorite lettuce for taste and will hold up reasonably well to the heat of early summer in my Indiana garden. Batavian lettuce forms loose heads and seems to hold up at least as well as Romaine, in my opinion. Organic Gardening pointed to a university study which suggested that Batavian lettuce resisted bolting better than any other type (lettuce “bolts” by sending up a seed stalk, causing the lettuce to turn bitter). Lettuce bolts usually in response to increased daylight and temperature. Crisphead types, also known as iceburg, typically grow more slowly and, in my experience, do not perform as well in the heat. Crisphead varieties also seem to be the favorite of slugs.

I do not direct seed lettuce in the garden, but rather use transplants. This is a personal choice as I do not seem to waste as much seed and I do not have to thin them either. The article suggested using mulch around your lettuce plants to help keep the soil moist unless slugs become a problem, then you should avoid using mulch. I absolutely agree with that. I usually do not mulch very heavily in the spring when slug numbers seem to be the highest, but at other times of the year, mulch can be very beneficially. I usually mulch around the lettuce with dried grass clippings. I have generally found that trying to grow lettuce in middle of the summer here in Indiana can be somewhat tricky due to the heat. In fact, over the past few years I have stopped growing lettuce during the period from about mid July to mid August. This seems to have worked our fairly well for me. You still can grow lettuce during the hottest times of year if you give it some shade and keep it WELL WATERED. You can shade your lettuce using hoops and Garden Clips, Medium with shade cloth.

During the warmer times of the year, I find it best to harvest lettuce in the morning before the day gets too hot. This keeps the lettuce from getting bitter. I also recommend washing it in cold water and spinning it dry in a Zyliss Salad Spinner as soon as possible after harvesting. If this is not possible, store the unwashed lettuce in a plastic grocery bag in the refrigerator until later. After the lettuce has been washed and spin-dried, store it in the refrigerator crisper drawer in a Ziploc bag with a paper towel. The paper towel will help absorb any leftover moisture. The lettuce should keep for up to 3 weeks if stored in this manner.

Here are some of the best lettuce varieties for heat and cold according to Organic Gardening:

Looseleaf: New Read Fire, Salad Bowl (My Pick. Get the seed here: Salad Bowl Lettuce), Simpson Elite

Butterhead: Optima, Winter Density

Romaine: Green Towers (Probably My #1 Favorite Lettuce). Get the seed here: Lettuce Green Towers Park Seed

Batavian: Magenta, Nevada (My Pick)

Some of MY favorite lettuce varieties can be found on the following page: http://timssquarefootgarden.com/plantlist.htm

Now get out there and plant some lettuce. You won't regret it one bit!!

Onions and Peas Planted

I planted my onion plants yesterday, April 2nd. I planted approx. 140 plants for full mature onions and another 90 or so for green onion harvesting. This does not include the topsetting/walking onions that I have growing now in the garden that were set out last fall. For the spacing on the onions I am growing for a full mature onion, I give them a little more room than what Mel Bartholomew recommends (which is 3 inch spacing). I plant these onions 4 inches apart in short north-south rows 5 inches apart. This spacing, I feel, gives the onions a little bit more room to grow. The spacing between rows also makes it easier to side dress the Root Crops Alive! 100% All-Natural Fertilizer, which I will apply in a few weeks. I planted 4 long rows of onions for green onions, using the closer spacing of 3 inches. The onion varieties I planted were Onion Candy Hybrid Park Seed and Onion Stockton Sweet Red Park Seed . These are both good intermediate day onions that grow well for me here in Indiana. I planted more Candy onion than Stockton Red, as I think Candy grows a little bit better.

I planted Sugar Ann Snap Pea today. I planted these 4 inches apart under a galvanized wire Pea Fence . This is a new variety of snap pea that I am trying this year.

I have nearly all of my seedlings in my cold frame right now, just waiting for a few more lettuce seeds to germinate before they get moved out into the frame. The weather remains cold and wet, but the forecast is for warmer weather this coming weekend. Happy Spring Gardening!!