Lettuce

Heat and lettuce don’t necessarily go hand in hand. Bolting is inevitable, but doesn’t have to mean it is time to toss those heads out of the garden.

For some reason this last growing season was our best for lettuce yet, and these seeds are over 3 years old now. I’m sure the extended spring weather and rains helped with that. However, once the heat came quite unexpectedly the lettuce decided it was time to bolt. Bolting is the process of forming a flower stalk in the middle of the head to form seeds. This usually means the lettuce has gone bitter, a defense mechanism more than likely to prevent being devoured before the plant is able to spread its seeds and die.

So our lettuces have all started to bolt now. It began with the romaine, the lettuce we use most often, and seemed to not happen to any of our mixed greens until we left town. Figures. The chickens don’t seem to mind the slightly bitter taste the romaine lettuce has taken on and so every few days I pull a head for them to munch on. However, wanting to make a salad for dinner last night, I decided to check on a few of the mixed greens to see if any of them were edible. Taking a small sample of the lettuces, I tasted them. As it turned out a few of them were still slightly sweet and delicious, a sign that they’d make a great salad, with only one bitter and one very slightly
bitter which will soon be chicken food.

Okay, so with a couple heads of lettuce in hand, red oak and butter if you’re interested, I took them into the kitchen and washed them thoroughly in cold water a total of three times to make sure that any soil and bugs were off. If time had allowed and I thought of it earlier, a few hours in the refrigerator would have crisped them up further. But for the simple salad I was preparing it probably wouldn’t have made a difference.

Strawberry and Feta Salad
1 large head lettuce, such as romaine
6-8 strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup feta cheese
½ cup croutons
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Quarter lettuce lengthwise and cut into bite sized pieces, or simply buy a ready to use bag of lettuce or mixed greens. Instead of croutons, try 2 tablespoons sliced almonds. Toss all ingredients together and enjoy!