Getting started
Lettuce can grow in a corner of a vegetable garden or in a pot on the porch — just as long as it receives at least half a day of sun and moderately fertile soil.
It prefers the cooler weather of spring and fall to the hot days of summer, so now is a good time to try it.
Although you can buy plants at garden centers, direct-sown seeds sprout quickly and reliably. In fact, if you’re new to growing from seed, lettuce can be a good confidence-builder.
Plant seeds very shallowly, pressing them into the soil or covering them lightly. Sow a new patch every week or two to extend your harvest.
Some of my favorite varieties are:
■ Merveille de Quatre Saisons (“Marvel of Four Seasons”): This heirloom variety produces loose heads of beautiful red-tinged leaves. Plus, I love resurrecting my college French and announcing “Merveille de Quatre Saisons!” with a flourish at the table. My family humors me, because they know a delicious salad has arrived.
■ Red Sails: A loose-leaf type with ruffled red leaves, Red Sails is slow to bolt — meaning that it doesn’t rush to set seed, even in warmer conditions.
■ Simpson Elite: An improved strain of the classic Black Seeded Simpson, this choice is also slow to bolt, and it stays sweet even in summer. Raising it right
Lettuce needs steady moisture to germinate and thrive, so water regularly if rain is scarce.
If you didn’t mulch when planting seeds, add mulch ASAP between rows or individual plants to retain soil moisture and suppress weeds.
Straw, shredded tree leaves and grass clippings all work wonderfully.
Seeds might sprout in a week or sooner, and young leaves can be ready to harvest in several weeks. Mature leaves are typically ready in less than two months.
After cutting, leaves usually regrow, providing several harvests from one planting.
Enjoying your harvest
When you’re ready to harvest, timing is everything.
Using sharp scissors, pick early in the morning for the freshest, sweetest leaves.
If you wait till the sun is high — even on a cool day — the leaves become limp and taste bitter.
Immediately take them into the kitchen and plunge them into ice water.
Gently swish the leaves in the cold water to remove dirt or insects. (If softhearted children are involved, let them return any floating bugs or critters to the outdoors.)
The next step is when you’ll want to use a gadget called a salad spinner. Using centrifugal force, it gets the leaves remarkably dry without bruising them.
Most spinners come with a lid so you can store lettuce in the fridge until mealtime.