If youve got room for just one crop in the garden, make it leafy and green.
Its also delicious shredded into salads and sandwiches.
Grow loose-leaf lettuces and youll enjoy a continuous supply of greens that can be picked on demand.
Theyre fast growing and quick to crop with most varieties ready to harvest in just six weeks.
Smaller leaves can be picked even earlier.
Plant a new punnet ofseedlings every few weeks and youll have a salad bar at your fingertips.
Its said to be Thomas Jeffersons favorite variety, grown in the garden of his Monticello estate.
Freckles Bunte is another striking butter-head jot down with crinkled green foliage thats speckled with red patches.
It stands up to summer heat and holds on to its flavor and texture well.
Pick the leaves as needed to extend the harvest.
Plant them alongside beautiful lime-colored lettuces such as Gold Rush for wonderful contrast.
Lollo Rossa Darkness is particularly attractive with frilly leaves that are heavily tinged red.
Its heat resistant and slow to bolt, with a lovely sweet flavor.
Its the perfect choice for growing in a decorative container.
GROWING
Lettuces can be grown from seed or seedlings and planted and harvested year-round in many areas.
In tropical zones, the growing season is shorter.
Lettuces enjoy growing in rich, well-drained soil, so prepare your beds well before planting.
Sow seeds or plant seedlings everyfew weeks for a continuous supply.
It also pays to choose heat-tolerant varieties that are less likely to bolt to seed.
In smaller gardens, try growing lettuces among your flowers or to fill gaps around slower-growing vegetables.
They are also wonderfully decorative in pots and window boxes.
Cut hearting varieties at the base of the plant when the head is full, ripe and ready.
