Easy growing edibles are perfect for a quick summer harvest. Each lettuce variety has a different length of growing season, but most are mature within 30 to 70 days after sowing.
Loose leaf lettuce, which refers to varieties that do not form any type of head, is considered the easiest to grow, so one month after sowing, you can be harvesting your own fresh, leafy greens.
At this time year, sow salad seeds directly into prepared, damp soil either in raised beds, borders, or pots.
Lettuce can be grown in pots or containers. It has a shallow root system, so it grows best in a medium-sized container.
Lettuce plants like a moist soil, but they do not like sitting in water all of the time. Make sure whichever container you select is at least 6 inches deep and has drainage holes that allow water to drain quickly so that your lettuce plants does not turn soggy.
Lettuce thrives and grows fastest in full sun, but it also grows well in light shade, preferring afternoon shade at the height of summer.
Salad greens may need protecting from slugs.
Once leaves reach about 8cm tall, slice off the tops for harvest, leaving about 3cm in the ground.
Each leaf will regrow another few times before it is spent. Leaf lettuce is a ‘cut and come again’ crop which means that you can harvest a few leaves at a time, and the plant will regrow more leaves.
Water the plants that have been cut, feed with a liquid seaweed feed and they will continue to grow, ready for cutting again in about 2-3 weeks.
Nothing could be simpler, fresher, or tastier!