Eat Like No One Else » Container gardening

Harvesting Bibb Lettuce – Some Bitter Leaves

admin — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:04:26 +0000

Yesterday I decided to harvest my Bibb Lettuce in the morning for three reasons:

1. A high of 94 degrees was predicted.
2. It has reached the right size.
3. The center of the leaves had formed a “firm head”.

I have two harvest options. I could have just take off the outer leaves and allow the plant to continue to grow. However with the hot weather continuing through the week, I decided to just end it here. I wanted to use the pot I was growing it in to propagate some strawberry plants. So I just gently used a small shovel and pulled the plants right out of the container. I twisted off the root end and noticed a white sappy substance. This can be a sign that the lettuce has turned bitter. And indeed some of the leaves turned out to be bitter, but some where still ok. The above average temperatures caused this to happen. In the average year I would have been fine timing wise. At least some of the leaves were still usable. We will probably plant some more bibb lettuce later in the year for a fall harvest.

One positive thing to note was that the lettuce grew well in the pot I had it in, making it an successful vegetable for a container garden.

Are you growing Bibb Lettuce this year? I would love to hear your experience. Leave a comment below.

To read all my posts on Bibb Lettuce, click here.

Growing Bibb Lettuce – Close to Harvest

admin — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 20:18:39 +0000

Lettuce is a crop that is easy to grow (as long as it is not too hot) and gives you a variety of options for harvest. Take the Bibb lettuce I am growing right now in a container. I could harvest at the point you see in the pictures. But I am going to wait for the leaves to mature further. We are growing this variety to have large lettuce leaves to use as a wrap or inside of a sandwich or burger.

In order to help keep the soil moist and any pesky weeds from sneaking in, I placed some wood chips around each plant.

Are you growing Bibb Lettuce this year? I would love to hear your experience. Leave a comment below.

To read all my posts on Bibb Lettuce, click here.

How to Grow Bibb Lettuce

admin — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:45:24 +0000

Introduction
Lettuce is one of the first things you can grow in your garden each year. We planted some from seed in our garden earlier in the year. Last week, we were at the farmer’s market and saw some Bibb Lettuce plants for sale. Bibb Lettuce is a great choice for using like a wrap. So we decided to buy a pack and plant them in a container that we had available.

When to Plant
You want to plant any lettuce earlier. It will bolt or go to seed once the hot weather hits. So you can either start it indoors or plant it as soon as you can work the soil. A lot of people will cover their lettuce, making a greenhouse to help it grow. You can also plant lettuce later in the season for a fall crop.

Starting Seeds
Lettuce can be easily started from seed. I choose to buy plants in this case, because it will be difficult at this time to have the Bibb Lettuce reach maturity from seed when summer is getting so close.

Expected Harvest
Bibb Lettuce takes a little longer than other varieites, but still 57 days is not bad. Since I bought mine as plants, I am not sure how old they are, but I am thinking I will be harvesting it by the end of May/early June. I planted it at the beginning of May.

Growing Peas – Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow Flowering (8 Weeks)

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:07:50 +0000

Click here to read all my posts on Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow Peas.

I recently took a week long vacation and came back to see my Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow peas beginning to flower. Lots of small white flowers are starting to form that means within 1 1/2 to 2 weeks, I should be ready to taste my first snow peas of the season. My original estimated harvest was Thursday, June 17th, so it looks like I will be right on the money.

Some of the lower leaves have been dying off, but with new growth at the top, I am not concerned about that, and neither should you be.

Growing Peas – Harvesting Burpeeana Early (Week 11)

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 02:33:04 +0000

Click here to read all my posts regarding this variety of pea.

The most exciting time for a vegetable gardener has come – the harvest. My first harvest of the year is my Burpeeana Early peas. It took to the 11th week to get my first harvest. The estimated harvest date was Sunday, May 23rd. So it was off about 2 weeks. My time from sowing the seeds to my first harvest was 77 days.

When to Harvest?
How do you know when to harvest the peas? I think some trial and error needs to take place. You want to make sure your peas have developed enough, so look for the bumps underneath. But if they over develop they become more starchy and less sweet. If the pod is nice and round you definitely want to pick them. Try some pods at different stages. Test the peas within to find the optimal picking size for your taste buds. Make sure you harvest frequently, so more peas can grow and more harvesting can take place.

Harvest Right Before Cooking
The quicker you can go from vine to pot the better. The peas begin to convert sugar into starch immediately after leaving the vine. So it’s best to pick me right before you are going to eat them. But if that is not possible, you can try storing them in the fridge to slow down the process. Or another option is to just eat them how they are. They are so sweet off the vine, it’s like eating candy.

Harvest Results
My first harvest was rather small, as I would expect from the first time. But like I said earlier it’s important to keep picking tn encourage more growth. I expect my next harvest in a a day or two to be larger. The amount of peas I got, include the shell which you don’t eat, was 1.4 ounces.

Growing Peas – Burpeeana Early Flowers (9 Weeks)

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 02:10:14 +0000

Click here to read all my posts regarding this variety of pea.

At about the 9 week point my Burpeeana Early peas began to show signs of flowering. The flowers are white in color. From the point in which the flowers show up until the peas are mature to harvest will probably be around 1 1/2 to 2 weeks. It’s exciting to see those first flowers appear, it’s then you know you are in the home stretch.

Also at this point I have noticed some of the lower leaves are dying off. I am not concerned about this. I am seeing new growth on top and I have seen lower leaves die off in broccoli, cabbage, and tomatoes before and those plants still did well. So if this happens to do, no need to worry as long the plant is still growing.

Growing Peas – Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow at 5 Weeks

admin — Mon, 17 May 2010 20:30:55 +0000

Click here to read all my posts on Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow Peas.
It has been 5 weeks since I planted my mammoth melting sugar snow peas. At this point they have climbed to about half way up the support I have for them. They are definitely fast growers. I am excited to see how tall they get. Another week of plenty of rain is keeping me from having to water them. They are pretty low maintenance.

Growing Peas – Burpeeana Early at 8 Weeks

admin — Sat, 15 May 2010 21:14:04 +0000

Click here to read all my posts regarding this variety of pea. My Burpeeana Early peas have now reached the top of the support I set up for them. But I am not concerned about them exceeding it as the pea plants are close enough together to grab each other for more support. At this point I am expecting to see the first flowers beginning to appear anytime now. We have had a rainy May, so I haven’t had to do any additional watering myself.

Growing Peas – Burpeeana Early at 7 Weeks

admin — Wed, 12 May 2010 03:10:45 +0000

Click here to read all my posts regarding this variety of pea.

These peas have been growing good lately. The rain and cool nights have been a gift to these peas. Tendrils are shooting out everywhere. Since the plants are so close together they are even using each other to reach for the sky. If things go right I should be seeing flowers forming in the next 2 weeks.

Growing Peas – Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow at 4 Weeks

admin — Wed, 12 May 2010 02:34:35 +0000

Click here to read all my posts on Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow Peas.

I am now at week 4 of growing my mammoth melting sugar peas and wow, have they taken off. They are about the same height now as my burpeana early peas that I planted weeks before. They are gripping my mesh netting pretty good now. We have had lots of rain and cool temperatures at night, great growing conditions for peas. I can’t wait until these snow peas will be melting in my mouth.