Grilled Garden Lettuce -it’s not too late

Field_050IMG_3416Grilled lettuce, right out of the garden, cut in half, slathered with a little olive oil, sea salt and pepper and onto the grill makes a toothsome treat. I like to make a Parmesan dressing for mine, using extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, a little salt and pepper all mixed with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Or, skip the grilling and go right to a fresh garden salad.

If you don’t have lettuce in your garden now, you will in 45 to 50 days from the time you get your seeds in the ground. Naturally, I recommend La Vie Rustic’s French Lettuce Seed Collection because I selected some of my favorites for it, such as Reine de Glaces, an heirloom iceberg precursor with a snug head and deeply cut lacy edges on the leaves.

thomas Kuoh Photography

thomas Kuoh Photography

If you live in a climate where summer temperatures soar, keep your lettuce seedlings well watered, and even shaded. I sometimes use tree pruning stuck in the ground alongside the plants to cast some filtered shade on them.

You don’t have to wait until the lettuces are fully mature to start savoring them. Using the cut and come again method, you can start clipping individual leaves once the plant has 8 or 10 leaves will appear. New ones will grow, giving you a daily supply of lettuce from your garden.

In fact, now is the time to get a garden of any kind planted.  La Vie Rustic has a year-round Potager Garden in a boxed set of 13 different seeds, garden maps and markers, a smaller Spring Potager set in a heavy Kraft envelope with 7 different seeds and a map, and a Sunflower Garden set for bouquet making. IMG_3424Now, all you need for your table is a pretty serving  platter or an oven to table Gratin dish.

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