Too many people think head lettuce or Iceberg lettuce has to be bought at the market.

I grow wonderful crops of head lettuce and yet every year some new visitor looks at my bright green rows and says, “Hmmmm. I didn’t know you could grow that here.” Well, you can and it’s easy.

All you need is some cool weather in spring or fall. Get started early; head lettuce needs as much time as possible developing in cool weather, so the earlier you can set out some plants, the better. They will have the best chance to head up before the scorching days of summer.

Great Lakes, Iceberg, and Ithacavarieties have all done well in my garden. I start them indoors in shallow flats or pyramid planters about 6 to 8 weeks before the last expected frost date.

The most important step in early planting is to harden off the plants very well before setting them into the garden. After they are about 4 weeks old, I start giving them some time outdoors. That way they can handle unexpected cold snaps and even a light frost. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve ever grown spinach, you know it doesn’t take many leaves to fill a basket. But when you cook them, a lot turns to a little.

To get an abundance of spinach from a small space, I plant in wide rows. If you harvest 6 pounds of spinach from a single row, you can get 20 pounds from a wide row the same length. That’s important when it’s time to freeze spinach.

Because spinach thrives in cool weather, I often plant it on the first day I can work the soil in spring, and again in late summer for a fall harvest. Spinach takes about 10 days to germinate when the soil is still cool. Read the rest of this entry »

Okra likes hot weather, so plant it after the last frost when the ground is warm. I cheat a little in Vermont and plant it early under a grow tunnel to catch extra heat. (I shape my tunnels so they are quite tall and I can leave them on for 2 or 3 weeks.)

To help the seeds sprout, soak them in water for a few hours before planting or put them in the freezer overnight. Either step will help soften or crack the seed coat. Read the rest of this entry »