Each year come May we work hard to plant the vegetable garden and then cross our fingers and hope for a good year. The vagaries of the weather, pests or just bad luck can do in a vegetable garden at any time, and we never know how the season will be.
All of the uncertainty of gardening helps explain why the first harvest of the year is so exciting. It means that no matter what happens, we know we’ll have at least one successful crop. I harvested enough lettuce yesterday for a large salad. There’s no comparison between fresh greens and the ones from the grocery store. Five minutes from being in the dirt to being on the table makes a difference!
Our container lettuce has been enjoying the cool weather we’ve had lately, and there’s just enough to start harvesting a little here and there. It needs to be thinned, so in the thinning there’s a bit of harvesting. I urge anyone with space for a container or two to consider starting lettuce. It has got to be the easiest vegetable to grow. It germinates and matures very quickly, and all it needs is a little water, decent soil and a few hours of sun a day to make it!
This year’s garden is a new plot in a sandy, shady spot, so we really don’t know how we’re going to make out. It feels good to know that for the next month we’ll likely have fresh salads on most days. Our first success of the year!