I had tried to grow lettuce in my raised garden bed in the past, unfortunately without any success. When my husband bought me a small greenhouse last year I was excited to try extending our growing season so in early February we set it up.
The lettuce seedlings I had been growing in starter pots was the first to get transplanted out there. I also transplanted some and sowed some of the same lettuce seeds into the raised garden. So that I could compare the results, my results surprised me!
Lettuce seedlings started mid January
This is the lettuce not long after transplanting in mid February
I did not keep very good records :( Whoops!
The lettuce at the end of March, ready for harvest
Greenhouse to table in about 6 weeks
No pesticides, herbicides or fungicides
Totally organic, even the soil!
What would this salad be worth in the grocery store, I wonder?
Another of the lettuce mix just after transplanting
The lettuce mix today. It made a beautiful bouquet, but if I had planted it further apart it would have had more room to grow.
The reason I cannot show you the pictures of the seedlings and transplants that I set out in the garden is simple, because the seeds I sewed in the garden never germinated (probably too cold, wet, etc.) and the chickens ate the transplanted lettuce. Whoops again...
So I have decided that greenhouse lettuce is the way to go. I think that next year I will try growing out in it more during the winter and sewing seedlings and transplants every two weeks or so for a continued harvest. That is what makes gardening such fun, there is ALWAYS something new to try!