Lauren Wiseman:
Adrian,
So now that tomato season is over, I have freed up several of my pots and, under your direction, planted some leafy vegetables.

In one pot we planted mesclun lettuce, which includes Bibb lettuce, radicchio and arugula. Next we sprinkled seeds for spinach, my favorite because it contains many good nutrients, especially for me, the pregnant woman. And lastly we chose Buttercrunch lettuce, which I love in salads because of its smooth texture and buttery flavor.

The process was relatively easy. We roughed up the top of the soil, all of which was reused from the tomatoes, and sprinkled a handful of seeds. Then we moved the soil around to cover the seeds.

Little buds already have begun to perk up from the soil, although not into full-fledged lettuce. The maintenance, so far, has been minimal. I make sure to water every two to three days.

I'm not sure I have ever seen a lettuce or spinach batch, only heads and leaves in a supermarket aisle. So I have several questions.

How will I know when I can pick the lettuce?

What will it look like and approximately how long does it take?

What is the average season for lettuce? Will the crop last into the winter?

I am glad to have started a new project. It makes me realize that gardening can be many things. And, let's be honest, I like to keep things interesting.
-- Lauren

Adrian Higgins:
Lauren,
As a first-time-parent-to-be, you will soon find lots of things interesting, I can tell you. Who needs sleep, anyway?

Wasn't it easy to yank the tomatoes, scuff up the soil and sow a few seeds? You will be amazed at how many greens those three large containers will yield in the weeks ahead.

One of the hardest things for new gardeners to accept is that seedlings must be thinned. But if you don't, the plants will form weak roots, bent stems and stunted leaves as they vie with each other for moisture, nutrients and light. Eventually, you want the lettuce heads to be about four to six inches apart, the other greens at least three inches apart. This is achieved in a number of "thinnings." The first thinning should occur about a week after the seedlings emerge. Don't pull them with your fingers at this stage; the soil is so crumbly and the root systems of the ones you want to keep so fragile that you will cull keepers.

Take a small pair of scissors and snip the seedlings you want to remove. Typically, you want to remove the weaker of a pair of seedlings. Do enough to make sure that the keepers have an inch or a tad more of space from the neighbors. In the second thinning, increase that space to two inches, and so on. In the second thinning, the culled greens will be large enough to use as a garnish. Wash them and snip off the roots before using. The successive thinnings can be used in salads. You will be surprised at how sweet they will taste.

The lettuce varieties will last until the first hard freeze, usually into December, and you could prolong their use by covering them if a freeze is predicted. The other greens are hardier, and will bounce back from several degrees of frost. Spinach sown now is done so for baby greens in the fall. But leave a few, because they will continue to grow roots in the winter, and when the days lengthen and grow warmer in March and April, they will grow vigorously and produce a fine crop of spinach. I like the wrinkled varieties of spinach, called savoy leafed. They are particularly sweet in the early spring.

Feeding the greens with a fertilizer may make them too soft and lanky, but it is important that you keep the soil evenly moist but not waterlogged. I'm growing some of my own and will report back on their progress.
-- Adrian