Summer Lettuce, A Garden Delight

Keeping beautiful lettuce growing in the garden requires considerable effort on Ed's part.  New plants must be started in the basement now because lettuce will not germinate in hot weather.   Here you see a tray of beautiful new plants ready to transplant into the garden.  Once the tray is empty, new seeds will be planted in the pots and the cycle will begin again.

Our favorite bed for lettuce  is surrounded by a metal bunny barrier.  After all the trouble Ed goes to to plant lettuce, we want to eat it.  Since the hot sun is so intense the new transplants are planted under shade cover.  The shade cover also protects the plants from the deer and other critters who seem to wander through here daily.

Don't these lettuce plants look happy and healthy tucked safely in their well protected bed?

What could be more special than BLT's made with the first tomatoes of the season and beautiful lettuce just picked from the garden ?  No one eats better than that!

First thing this morning I slipped outside to pick a few strawberries for breakfast and to pick some lettuce while it was still cool and crisp.   I walked toward the garden with my gathering basket, planning to cut through the stone square on the way to the lettuce bed.  As I approached, I saw unexpected movement in the stone square.  I watched with surprise and delight as two wild turkey hens and fourteen baby turkeys made a hasty retreat out the far opening in the stone wall.  Once they cleared the garden the two hens ran and the babies all flew past the shade garden and into the grown up area at the edge of the clearing.  Once there they were invisible.  Wet turkey footprints on the patio were all that remained from their visit and soon they were gone too.  Wild turkeys do eat some plants and berries, but they really love bugs.  Sixteen turkeys must have given the  garden square a good cleaning.  I'm delighted that I made the trip to pick my lettuce for today's salad.  It was an exciting if unexpected start to my day.