Starting a winter garden filled with lettuce is relatively easy and rewarding since you can start harvesting as early as a month after planting. I don’t currently have raised beds, but with containers, I can still have a nice little vegetable garden.
I prepped one container that I already had and a second container that I bought for small space gardening. I filled the containers with soil (adding vermicompost to the larger container.
Watering your lettuce
Lettuce likes to remain moist. Inconsistent watering where the lettuce dries our will produce bitter lettuce. This is less than ideal. I have heard that lettuce can rot with too much water, but I have not experienced that. Perhaps it is that I like in a warm climate that can be arid.
Because of this ideally I water it every day. This is easy with an irrigation system. I will be watering this by hand. So I am hopeful that if I skip a day, it will still be plenty of water. I’ll keep you updated on my progress.
Follow the seed packets recommended timeline for planting. If the temperature is too hot then the lettuce will taste bitter.
Also if it has been warm and your lettuce looks wilty when you harvest it, place a bowl of ice water in the refrigerator and place the lettuce in there for an hour. It should revive it and give you a nice leaf for salads.