S T R A W B E R R I E S !!!!!!!!!!!!

[japple]

Our first strawberries are in. We got 3 gallons on Friday and I put them in the freezer until I have the time to make jam. On Sunday, my sister made a fantastic old-fashioned strawberry shortcake and it was heavenly. On the downside, we ate the last of this year's asparagus on Sunday, too. We only have another couple of weeks of lettuce and then it will be back to stuff from the store. Our cabbages are still growing and should be eating size in a couple of weeks. So far, 2006 is a great year for the garden, and it really hasn't even started!

[NJCher]

1. the aroma of strawberries....

Is wafting through the air as I read your post. Too bad it's all in my imagination!

Hey, did you know you can plant lettuce all year if you shield it from the sun with a cover? Yes, my nurseryman does it even in August. You will have to construct a shade for it but it does work!




Cher

[japple]

2. You mean I can grow lettuces in Georgia in 100 degree heat?

Of course it's only about 75 during the day now, but during the heat of the summer, it's brutally hot. I thought about planting some in a shady area to see what would happen. Any thoughts. I'm kinda new at gardening, even though my family has been doing it for generations.

[Shakespeare]

3. I'll second this little tip!

I'm going to try the same thing this year - one of my fellow community gardeners did this last year, and had the most beautiful lettuce patch I've ever seen. Their cover was a recycled skylight (with "stilts" nailed onto it), and it worked wonderfully. I'm not sure what I'll use for a cover, but watching how much success they had with their lettuce really inspired me.

[OnionPatch]

4. I'm in southern California

I tried lettuce in the summer a couple of times here, and planted it in the dappled shade. All I ever got was some stringy seedlings that never filled out but quickly bolted. None of it was worth eating. There may be a point where you just can't grow it in the heat. We have 100+ degree days often here in the summertime.

I was thinking about trying it in a big container inside near a window this year. It never gets that hot in the house. And I really want to have a continual supply of lettuce...tests have shown perclorate in commercially grown California lettuce, even the organic lettuce. It's in the water in the central valley, where most of the grocery store lettuce comes from, but luckily, there is no perchlorate in my hillside community's water supply, so my lettuce should be ok.

[japple]

5. April was unseasonably hot, here, but May has turned out

to be perfect lettuce weather, and my plants are growing new heads. This is the first time I've ever grown head lettuce and even though red Georgia clay is not the ideal growing medium, the lettuce has been tasty and tender if extremely muddy. I'll probably continue to have lettuce for another few weeks.

Next year, I gotta remember to plant spinach and another variety of salad greens.