Winter harvest

Lettuce in pots - 5 August 2011

In our garden there is not much growing at the moment. I must have missed the days to plant winter vegetables, but still am very glad to see my neighbour Paul grow his suedes and beetroots.  There are a few kohlrabi plants and some left over sping onions still gowing from last year, but my pride and joy is the lettuce patch.

The last rain has done the lettuces well. We nearly reached average monthly rainfall for June and July, just a few mm short. One watertank is full and the other one 3/4 full, despite only a very small water collection area on the roof.

The lettuces are thriving, may be due to planting them in pots in the middle of best home made compost. Or the companionship with garlic is working out. I planted garlic in the corners between the pots, plenty of it and it has been growing just as well as the lettuce.

Snails seem to avoid the lettuce alltogether, apart from a few common garden snails (helix aspersa) that were tucked on tighly and came with me into the kitchen when I cut the leaves for dinner.  

It is a delightful pleasure to cut lettuce leaves for family meals. Just enough for a few people. Fresh and home grown it is eaten within 10 minutes of being harvested! We love it! Any leftovers go in the lunch boxes for the next day or into the next compost batch!

Lettuce patch - 25 September 2011