Fall weather is a perfect lettuce growing time!

As most people know, lettuce likes cool weather. And, while most gardeners plant their lettuce crops in early spring, it’s actually even better if they think to include these in the fall months as well!

If you think about it, the fall provides plenty of warm weather early on to get seedlings up and growing, while providing cool and damp conditions later on. The lack of insects later in the season also helps the plants to reach their fullest potential. Most forms of lettuce, especially the romaine’s are not affected even when the temperatures dip below the freezing point. That makes them perfect for growing in cold frames where a harvest can be extended even into the winter months here in southwest Missouri! I also like to plant a few radish seeds as they mature fast enough to harvest before the real cold sets in!

I Got the Raised Bed Blues!

Man oh man, will it ever get warm outside? First, Al Gore comes out with a warning everyone about global warming and then wham, much of the northern hemisphere gets the coldest winter on record. Go figure.

Every winter about this time (late February), I get a bit antsy to plant something in the raised bed area out back. This year, the urge is even more intense due to the cold weather and possibly to the economic times. This year, it’s even more important for many of us to plant vegetables for the dinner table. I got a feeling that, baring a miracle, prices will continue to rise at the grocery store. There was an article on the internet that told about how some grocery chains were hurting due to customers swarming in for the discounted deals while leaving everything else alone. I can’t say I blame them either. I’ve been doing the same thing lately myself.

So, while I’m waiting for Mother Nature to warm herself up, I’m going to have to be content myself with planting starter plants indoors. My first effort about three weeks ago went for naught as it was still too cold, even in the cold frames. However, now that the temperatures are routinely getting up to fifty, I think I’ll give it another go.

First on my list of early starts will be as much lettuce in the form of romaine as I can handle. This year I will be using seed that was purchased in 2009 and which has spent the winter in the fridge. Most seeds will store just fine if you can remember to keep them away from moisture and in a cool spot. I’m still getting ninety percent germination rates from this last batch. So far so good.

Next, once the seeds have germinated I will get them into the cold frames just as soon as possible. By doing this, I will prevent one of the major causes of disappointment for gardeners…loss of production due to environmental checks. Romaine plants are very cold hardy and will easily survive below freezing temps as long as they have had a chance to harden off and get established in the earth.

Other good candidates for early starts are radish seed (plant these directly into the cold frame for an early harvest), spinach and any other cole crop you might want to try. Just make sure to coddle the young plants for the first couple to three weeks before hardening them off. I’ll post an update as soon as I have some plants ready to go.

Cold Frame October 2009 Update - Romaine lettuce

It’s been some time since I made an entry concerning the two small cold frames I maintain at my home in southwest Missouri. True, while they aren’t much to look at, they still make me smile every time I harvest something that was grown in them.

Right now I have a fall planting of romaine lettuce with a few radishes that were seeded in early September. Now as it is getting toward mid October, they are all beginning to look like something that will make it to the kitchen before too long. Even if the temps go down to freezing, I know from past experience, that the lettuce will come through in fine shape. Later in the year, if I still have something in the frames by, say December, I’ll just put the window sashes over them and even though they will cease growing very much, I’ll be able to keep them in edible condition right through the winter if I so desire!

When these plants get a little larger, I’ll post a follow up blog.

Boy, It's Cold Out There!

We had our first arctic blast of the season last night when temperatures got down to 28 Fahrenheit for the first time. That was cold enough to put an end to my few surviving plants out in the garden. My cold frame, however, came through in great shape. You can check out my video of the building of a cold frame at Building a Cold Frame.

At 6AM this morning when it did hit 28 degrees, the temperature inside theCF was a toasty 45F. That’s warm enough for lettuce to survive. I looked it up and the optimum temperature range for this cold hardy crop is 45F to 65F so that is good news. Now mind you, I did have a blanket draped over the frame last night and that more than likely helped. The good news is that I don’t think we have many nights that get that cold even in January. We’ll just have to see won’t we?