Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Marci got it!

Marci was the first to figure it out....a lettuce bed! Gwen came in with the right answer too :)

Just about the time each summer that tomatoes are in full production, my lettuce bolts. Ya'll know that NOTHING tastes better than a lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese sandwich on toast....but my lettuce ALWAYS bolts in July. Even though I succession plant, the heat is too much and even tiny little lettuce plants become bitter. By the time the weather has cooled off and lettuce is abundant again, then many of the things I like to eat with it are waning in the garden.

This year I will try to keep this little bed going under the shade of the tree. The fence panels are to keep the chickens and banty hens out. If this is successful, then next year we will create a permanent bed on a much larger scale under a tree.

This was fun! Next post....I need your suggestions on naming a new soap....I"ll post a picture and describe it. This time there will be a *real* prize for the winner!

6 comments:

  1. You've inspired me to try this too as the lettuce fizzling just about the time all the other salad goodies come on has been one of my pet peeves also. Only I think I will just try shading it right in the garden using burlap draped over a wire cage.
    I'm curious to see if the high temps and humidity will still turn the lettuce bitter even with shade.......it's worth a try anyways.

    Do let us know how this turns out! :)

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  2. Theresa,
    I have often thought of growing in the garden under shade cloth - make a tunnel of it etc.

    Let me know how your experiment does and I will report on mine :)

    Blessings,
    Cheri

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  3. A few days away from your blog and I miss getting in on a guessing game.

    That is a great idea for lettuce. I was wondering how we were going to keep 'in lettuce'in the heat of summer down in your neck of the woods.

    But first....I'm gonna have to plant me some trees!

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  4. WOw, I got something right. I am going to put it on my calendar or something. LOL!!!! =)

    Another neat thing I heard about and would love to try.... Someone made an arch with stockpanels the long way. They put several side by side and bent them over to form a tunnel of sorts. It was high enough you could walk through it if you stooped down a bit. The planted runner beans on it. Then they planted lettuce underneath it on the edges. The beans hung down through the stock panels and were easy to pick and the lettuce stayed in the shade.

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  5. Wish i had a garden like that in the banner. I'm growing banana trees in a living room ( 30m2) :(

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  6. We started raising chickens a year ago and they free range. Now we have to figure out how to garden with them out and about. I'm a bigtime newbie to doing both @ the same time plus battling the TX heat that is coming soon. Your garden is dynamic!

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