Transplanting Lettuce

The days have cooled to the low 70’s now so this was the week to transplant my lettuce seedlings which were sown in September. There are six different kinds of lettuce: Sea of Red, Marvel of Four Seasons, Dark Red Lollo Rossa, Rogue d’Hiver and Monet’s Garden Mesclun. My Flashy Trout Back seeds were old and didn’t germinate and I forgot to order another favorite, Redina. Those may be my succession crops since I’ve found they both do well in warmer weather.

Some, like Marvel of Four Seasons will be harvested as a gorgeous head of lettuce while the Dark Red Lollo Rossa will provide their stunning burgundy and chartreuse leaves into the early spring. There will be many weeks of lettuce to share with neighbors and family.

Here’s last year’s lettuce (and spinach) in early February.

This is the lettuce crop in February 2019. Gardening for me is a creative, artistic process. The greens and lettuce in my garden are ordered by color and texture as well as by height.  As Miss Rumphius says, it’s “to make the world more beautiful.” 

My favorite tool for transplanting lettuce is the dibble. In fact, it’s one of my favorite garden tools. A dibble makes holes in the ground for planting seeds, seedlings and small bulbs. It’s easy to seat the little lettuce plants in the perfectly sized holes. I’ve also used it for planting garlic, squash seeds, ranunculus and other seedlings.

Here’s my blogpost extolling the usefulness of the dibble and a source.
My Favorite Garden Tools—Dibble

There are luscious salads ahead.