I've been growing lettuce with vary degrees of success for awhile now. I've finally figured out a few things by trial-and-error so I'm passing them them on. Some will be nakedly obvious for experienced gardeners, but some of it was "oh, cool, that works well."

1. Do NOT let your lettuce do this. (See left)
This is called letting your lettuce "go to seed."  This happens when you don't harvest your lettuce fast enough and the weather gets warm very quickly. Lettuce is basically a grass that blooms. Unfortunately, all those lovely leaves at the bottom were left on the plant far too long and turned hideously bitter and inedible. You know it's bad when even the birds won't eat it.

2. Lettuce does not like hot weather. A morning watering is essential. Do not sleep in if you want lettuce. One morning I enjoyed a lazy morning/early afternoon, waited till the sun was high and the lettuce got very, very sad. And they do not recover well.

3. Extend a single head of lettuce: Starfish Method 
Named because when you cut the arm off a starfish, a new one grows in its place. In this system, keep pulling leaves from the side of the plant and then eventually cut the plant down. A little baby lettuce will grow in its place.

4. 3 crops from 1 starter: Tree Trunk Method 
If you cut a tree down and don't ground out the stump and roots, new trees will start sprouting out. Lettuce woks the same way. The first crop is the starter that you let it grow into a full head. Then, instead of pulling it out, cut it down as close as possible to the stump. Roly-poly bugs will inevitably nibble a bit at the stump, but then the sweetest little baby lettuce "trees" will grow in the stump. Repeat, but do not let the lettuce go to seed (See #1). After re-growth #3, you're at diminishing returns. Not worth the 'micro-greens.'

I haven't had to buy lettuce since April, and I even gave two heads away. Fresh, early picked lettuce is best, even if the leaves are on the small side. The bigger the leaves get, they get tougher and slowly more bitter.

Eat Well. Be Well.

The regularly scheduled blog is the update of the garden. I will write about that in 3 short paragraphs. See, there's even a photo of the first tomatoes.

But first: WHOO-HOOO!

Can you hear the absolute unbridled enthusiasm through the cable modem?? Feeding My Ohana was mentioned in the San Jose Mercury News, print and digital circulation = 2.6 Million(!), yesterday, 6/15/11, in the Home Plates section. Click here for the link.

A BIG thank you to my husband, kids, family and all my ohana who have supported the site (and me). And aloha new visitors!

I shall now return to the regularly scheduled garden update. Awhile back, I had to admit how the then-very-neglected garden was Not Growing At All (click here for post).

Well, it's back. Instead of a dog, I've decided to garden. As much as I like furry, slobbery, unconditional love, I really love eating more. And there is only so much time in the day. 

It's pretty amazing what 12 bags of chicken poop, compost and plastic forks and straws and a little water will do. A very cool, rainy spring/summer means that lettuce, chard and bok choy still grow. But it's just warm enough for tomatoes, cukes, zukes, eggplant and blind-date melon/pumpkin/squash.

What role do plastic, non-recyclable forks and un-environmentally friendly bendy straws play in the organic garden's return? Essential.

The garden's most persistent problem is feline. Four raised beds look like luxury bathrooms at Ritz Carlton for the neighborhood cat(s). Eggshells and orange rinds were no match for a cat who needs to 'go' badly enough. But forks and straws present a very, very uncomfortable consequence to Johnny Cat. Thorny stalks from trimming the rosebushes also work well, but these composted pretty quickly. The very fact that forks and straws are not recyclable and do last forever have made them very effective utensils in the war against kitty litter. 

So far, a cat-free garden where forks and straws have reared their spiky tines.

Eat Well. Be Well. (With one last whoo-hoo! to click here for the article.)