Lettuce

Once upon a forever ago, lettuce used to be harvested for it’s oily seed. Hard to imagine when you seed the size of one seed. Think of a flattened out full stop.

Traditionally lettuce is more of a cool season crop, here in Australia we tend to wan to eat our lettuce in peak summer time when it’s really warm. Which is a bit tricky for the lettuce. They like a drink. If they dry out a bit too much when they’re young, they end up bitter. They’re shallow rooted and if the day heats up too much, their growth stalls. If they stay warm for a while, they’ll tend to bolt, sending up stalks to set seed. A little part shade can go a long way for lettuce. When conditions are right, you’ll get gorgeous plants in only 6-8 weeks. Transition Farm sells some really great seed and they have information on the best types to grow in which conditions too,

The bonus being, you can harvest a few outer leaves along the way and the plant will merrily keep on growing. A way better idea than buying one, parking it in the fridge in a plastic bag and then forgetting all about about it. Avoid the guilt and have a go at growing your own. Once washed & spun dry, you can keep it in a glass jar for up to 2 weeks (if it resists sandwiches and the salad bowl for that long)