Kitchen Garden Forum

I have sown a non-heading variety of Lettuce. What is the best way of harvesting them? Should I take constantly take out a few of the outer leaves or maybe, as I saw in one video, do a horizontal chop midway across the plant?

We have just eaten some of ours for tea: just cut a 'bunchful', that is, as much as you can grab with one hand, with scissors quite closely to the ground. I grow ours in ordinary seed trays and get about six meals out of each cut, they will then grow again twice more, but the last growth is usually much less and lower. Growing them in seed trays with not very much soil in it, they need a lot of watering.

I did a random sow of some in the tunnel very early just to see! Not a bought mix just leftover, out of date seeds which I mixed together just to see the results! Must have taken at least 8 lots of leaves, (I pick leaves don't cut). I'm now down to pulling up & thinning as hoping somewhere there will be a full & proper lettuce, if I am lucky! Noted the Cos type are definitely trying!

Thanks Monika - I shall cut and try some this lunchtime.