This site is an archive of ChiotsRun.com. For the latest information about Susy and her adventrures, visit the Cultivate Simple site.
Thank you for all your support over the years!

Planting Frenzy

April 29th, 2015

I spent a few minutes on Sunday and an hour yesterday planting around 250 lettuce seedlings in the garden. That’s a lot of lettuce, but amazingly it will all be eaten. We will eat most of it, the remainder will be given to neighbors and friends. I might have even planted enough to take a basket each week to my local soup kitchen. Now that these seedlings are planted I’ll be starting flats of heat tolerant lettuces for summer salads.
File Apr 28, 9 30 26 PM
Some readers ask if it’s worth taking the time to start lettuce seedlings indoor, I think it is and will always do it. These seedlings will be big enough for me to start harvesting outer leaves in only two weeks. The seeds that I direct seeded in the garden are just beginning to germinate. Seeding flats gives me a 3 week jump on the growing season. Some of the containers I seeded at the same time are ready to be harvested. I’m so happy it’s salad season and could easily eat it three times a day (and often do).

Do you plant large quantities of any vegetables?

7 Comments to “Planting Frenzy”
  1. kristin @ going country on April 29, 2015 at 6:19 am

    Potatoes. Like half the garden. My Irish ancestry takes over. We always run out of potatoes before we get the new seed potatoes in the spring, so I guess I need to plant more.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  2. Kat on April 29, 2015 at 7:50 am

    I’m wondering if you would share the heat tolerant lettuces that you have found to work for you. I’m very interested in adding some of these to my garden. Thanks!

    Reply to Kat's comment

    • Caroline on April 29, 2015 at 4:54 pm

      Yes, I’d like to know which heat tolerant varieties you recommend as well! I’m in in Minnesota and some years it seems as though we skip right from winter into summer! I want my lettuce season to last as long as possible. I didn’t even know there were varieties that tolerate heat!

      Also, I don’t start seeds indoors because I don’t trust my kids and cat not to destroy them, but I do use the milk jug “greenhouse” method and start them outside. I’ve got some little ones ready to be moved to the garden. (I only moved a few so far, to ensure the bunnies couldn’t make it through my fence to eat them all!)

      Reply to Caroline's comment

  3. Darah on April 29, 2015 at 9:09 am

    Yes please share your heat tolerant recommendations! I was just thinking- as I was putting out plain seed that seedlings would be the way to go

    Reply to Darah's comment

  4. Lorna on April 29, 2015 at 10:24 am

    I also start lettuce indoors, then transplant out and direct seed at the same time. That way, I have my first succession planted! I do the same for the summer sowing and the fall lettuces that go under hoops. It’s not a perfectly timed system, but it works well for us. Another trick for summer lettuce is to plant with tomatoes; as the tomatoes grow they provide shade for the lettuce, which is already established, just at the time when the lettuce needs protection from the heat. I’ve never had lettuce bolt when I planted this way!

    As for abundant crops, I sell at my local farmer’s market since I grow so much more than my family and neighbors can eat :) My signature crop is the purple, ‘Velour,’ French Filet bean–wonderful! I’m also experimenting with currant tomatoes–they are rampant and abundant producers! but the flavor and nutrient density make-up for any trellising headaches.

    Reply to Lorna's comment

  5. Kris Engebretsen on April 30, 2015 at 2:55 am

    I would love to see pics of your lettuce seedlings and the other seedlings you plant in the garden :)

    Reply to Kris Engebretsen's comment

  6. Nebraska Dave on April 30, 2015 at 5:26 pm

    Susy, I have 50 cabbages to go in the ground but I don’t think I’ll be planting that many. I have no use for more than about 10 or 12 but just in case I’ll have a reserve. Those pesky rabbits like cabbage a lot. I see one every so often in the wood pile in the back yard so I know he/she is just waiting for a nibble of lettuce or cabbage when they get a leaf or two on the plant. I have 25 onions planted with 25 more waiting another couple weeks. The second round of potatoes have been planted and are peeking up through the soil. I’ll let them grow another week or so then plant the third layer. That will probably be the last layer as it will be well into June before another layer could be planted. Just a bit too late for that. Radishes and lettuce are looking good. Maybe I’ll be eating fresh salad in a couple weeks.

    Have a great lettuce planting day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

Admin
Read previous post:
Cold Tolerant Tomatoes

I've always grown a couple cold tolerant tomato plants for early fruit. They're not nearly as good as a an...

Close