LETTUCE PLANNING

I've been thinking about starting cutting lettuce for the winter under lights.  Will probably start Outredgeous, a favorite red romaine, and maybe just a lettuce mix.  At this point it might be January 1 before I start.  The lettuce in the picture (currently in the header) is Summertime, an iceberg that grows very well here in the North.  This is a true iceberg (crisp head), but it is so superior to what you'll find in the stores, because the wrapper leaves have color and substance.  Although it heads up, I usually pick the outer leaves like a leaf lettuce until it becomes clear that it's going to head up.  The red might be Outredgeous.  I started these sometime in March, as I recall.  The great thing about starting lettuce to transplant to the garden is that they can spend nearly half their life in a pot before they get transplanted.  And although I germinated them inside they spent most of the first few weeks outside, at least during the day.  Sometimes the back shelf in the car serves as a greenhouse during the coldest days. Even if you only have space for a few old one gallon nursery pots lettuce makes a lot of sense to grow.