Unlike head lettuce, which is usually done growing once the head is harvested, leaf lettuce is a “cut and come again” crop. That means you can cut as much as you want, and the lettuce will regrow those leaves. This will continue until the plant bolts in the Spring or frost comes in the Fall.
My favorite variety is Black Seeded Simpson lettuce. It has a nice light leaf that tastes great with a light summer salad dressing.
You can see this growing in the raised bed in my greenhouse. It was starting to get very leafy. I usually harvest it before the leaf gets so long.
I usually buy my Black Seeded Simpson lettuce seed in bulk from True Leaf Market.
When to plant the lettuce in the Spring
I usually plant the lettuce early in the Spring, because it will bolt when it gets hot. In mid to late April, I broadcast the seed over my bed outside. Last year I sowed the lettuce in between perennials in the garden. You can see the lettuce coming up among the bloody dock and the narrow leaf plantain and walking onions.
The lettuce will bolt when it gets hot. Each plant will turn into a tower of lettuce.
When to plant lettuce in the Fall
In the Fall, lettuce will not germinate until it gets down to 70 degrees during the day. That is too late to get a consistent Fall crop outside. So I sow in the greenhouse in late September/early October.
I have an extended season in the Fall as I plant the lettuce in the raised bed in my greenhouse. It is lightly heated if it gets into the 20’s. I have had lettuce harvest all the way to January or February, when it gets into the teens and the greenhouse cannot stay warm enough, even with a small heater.
Other cut and come again greens
Although it is more of a cabbage or bok choy, I really like Tatsoi. It lasts much longer into the summer than lettuce and regular cabbage. It holds up better to cabbage moths than most cabbages. I have cut it in “cut and come again” fashion and it has come back. I plant it densely, and intermixed with other plants and calendula to ward off pests. I like the taste, mixed with salads or stir fried.
Landrace gardening is adapting crops to your land and climate, and then saving seeds, while also selecting for the best flavor, color, and pest and disease resistance.
Joseph lives in the high mountains of Utah – a mountain valley with cold air coming down out of the mountains, yet sun almost every day in the Summer, and low humidity. He grows for the farmers market and for himself and friends, and with a shorter season and these conditions he had difficulty growing warm weather crops.
