Stars Above. Earth Below. Love Within.

It’s July 27, and this weekend is lettuce seed planting time.

This year’s lettuces will include two varieties of Romaine: Bionda Lentissima, and Bionda Ortolani. Both seeds have been sourced from my favorite distributor of Italian-import seeds – Seeds of Italy.

These are two lettuce types that reach maturity 65 days after seed sowing. An early August planting will give us microgreens in August, young lettuce in September, and mature lettuce in October. The warm weather now will promote a fast germination. As we move away from the sun, the weather cools and the days shorten, the lettuce will be protected from sunburn and excessive heat and humidity.

The time for planting lettuce seeds is early spring and early fall. I plant a little early. Autumn in New England is erratic. It could reach the 80s in mid-October, or we could get our first evening frost in September. We have protective row cover tunnels designed specifically for greens. It’s great for protecting young microgreens from the baking sun and keeping bugs away, while letting in the blessed rain.

This weekend, we’ll remove all the withered summer squash plants, till long, fat rows of garden soil, work in some compost, and plant our Romaines. Come October, when summer is all behind us, we’ll be harvesting the fruits of our work – fresh, organic, grown-with-love lettuces that will bless us with nourishing vegan salads and sandwiches until the first snow flies. It’s doesn’t get better than that.

Much love,

Barbie xo