The Impatient Gardener: Lettuce Lessons Learned

[Rachel Butler]

So... My garden is lovely and out of control....just like I like it. My pride and joy until last week was my lettuce... so beautifully bountiful! Then I noticed it kept bolting on me. It would shoot up into these glorius stalks. So I let it run free... it is after all natural. As you can see from my garden there is really no rhyme or reason or order to my planting madness.

So I harvested a huge bunch of lettuce and began to prep it for the mother of all salads. I took the usual taste test and it was BITTER!! This was my first time growing lettuce and I was heartbroken.

Usually, I am so analytical. I just told a friend yesterday that we can build or make anything with the internet at our fingertips and the wonderful friends with have for guidance. I, however, was in no mood to me rational or patient and pulled up my lettuce and replace it with herbs and some rescue heirloom tomato plants. I did not even bother to do my internet research!

For the heck of it I later decided to research the bitterness... this is what i found... :(

As you know, lettuce turns bitter in hot weather and also when the plant begins to set seed, and that's one of the reasons why lettuce is considered a cool-weather crop. But another cause of bitterness is inconsistent moisture. Lettuce plants have shallow roots, so be sure to water them well throughout their growing season and don't let them dry out between waterings.

Another culprit is inadequate nutrition. Lettuce needs to grow quickly; if the plants stall out, the leaves become bitter. Feed your lettuce lightly with a nitrogen fertilizer every two weeks. Pick the leaves regularly. Older leaves can tend to become bitter as well. You could experiment with your soil theory by creating a raised bed, bringing in a load of topsoil from another source. Or try raising a crop to maturity in a container. You also might try planting a mix of different varieties and taste-testing the different varieties.

If you do harvest bitter leaves, wash and store them in the refrigerator for a couple of days. The bitterness will go away.

Yeah, that's right. It could have all worked out...oh well. But at the least, I can share with you my folly and hopefully keep you from my same lettuce-free fate. Now, off to yoga...in search of my patience!

HUGS! Rache

[Rachel Butler]

seriously---- i was sooooo bummed out when i read the info on the web...I was such a dumbo!!

[Bill Norton]

Somehow I feel as if this was written for me : ) Thanks for posting - there is a reason why they say you have to get your hands in the soil.