This crop is perhaps more
of a salad or a vegetable to be eaten raw, but as this applies more or
less to all the subjects dealt with it is included here. For example,
probably as many peas are eaten raw as are cooked. Lettuce however, can
be cooked as a vegetable. It makes an easily digested soup and supplies
all the moisture required if when cooking new garden peas, beans and
young carrots a few leaves are put in the bottom of the pan instead of
water. Old plants which have bolted and gone to seed or gone tough at
the end of the season are excellent when turned into soups. Two of the
biggest mistakes made by unskilled lettuce growers are sowing too many
at one time and pricking out the seedlings when they have become too
big. ln spite of repeated advice to sow a "pinch" of seed it is a common
practice for a lot to be sown at one time with a resultant glut for a
week or two and then none for the rest of the year. Small wonder that
fantastic prices are charged for inferior heads which are little more
than leaves; yet with only a little care and trouble they can be had all
the year round. This happy state does pre-suppose some form of glass
protection but even without it they can be had from May till October.
The reader will by now either have become bored and tired of the
constant reference to a well-prepared sailor has resolved that his
shall be in future well prepared.
But as this means nothing more than the regular digging at the right
time and the addition of manure in anticipation of sowing, no
apology is offered for saying that the best, biggest and most succulent
lettuces will be harvested from well-drained soil in good heart. Such a
soil is especially necessary where plants have to stand the winter
outdoors. Where a greenhouse is available a start may be made by sowing
seed in boxes of light soil in a slightly heated greenhouse in January
or February and either grown on in beds in the greenhouse or pricked off
into boxes to be planted out in a cold frame or under cloches. A
technique originated by the author for the small gardener is as follows
and may be started in late March or April or in February if cloches are
available.
when half-grown leaving the others at 8 inches to develop
fully. Treat the transplanted plants in the same way, that is, use up each
alternate one when half-grown. When the first lot is nearly used up sow another
half row in the same way and repeat until the end of June when it will be too
late to transplant. After this date and up to the end of July, sow where they
are to mature. Lettuces are so easy to grow that anyone can be successful if it
is remembered to transplant early-s-not more than 2 inches high. Varieties are
numerous and have been highly developed to meet special needs and to mature
under different conditions and temperatures and anyone contemplating growing
these for a sideline would do well to study the many varieties offered. Cos
Lettuce, a tall, narrow leafed variety, is better grown in the southern half of
the country. One of the biggest pests is root aphis which are greyish aphides
which infest the roots and may kill the crop. They are especially troublesome
during dry weather and soaking each plant with water. Sow a few seeds thinly in
a drill half-way across the garden plot using a utility variety such as All the
Year Round. When the plants are about an inch high, thin them out to 4 inches
apart, removing the unwanted plants by lifting them carefully with a label or a
pointed stick. Use as many of these plants as are necessary to plant up the
remainder of the row again at 4 inches apart discarding the remainder of the
seedlings unless the rows are less than 10 ft. (20 ft. in all) when another row
can be planted with them. The thinned out seedlings will be ready for use some
two to three weeks before the transplanted ones and both these and the seedlings
left at 4 inches apart can have every alternate plant taken out and used
Good varieties
All the Year Round, Arctic King, Continuity, Cheshunt
Early Giant, Hilde, and Webbs Wonderful. Tom Thumb hearts a little later than
all of these but is ideal for the small garden. Cos varieties: Buttercrunch,
Balloon, Little Gem (formerly known as Sugar Cos), Paris White and Winter
Density.
