My Lettuce Bolted, So I Did Too!

As you have read, I had little success with my winter garden this year. This was, of course, weather related. Can’t do much about that. I make sure everything gets whatever sun is available, but there’s nothing to do when the weather is just too warm. Shade doesn’t help when plants want sixty degrees, but they get eighty.

The two crops that did well were my strawberries and my lettuce. That is, until we approached Spring Break. The temperature went up, and my lovely crop of leaf lettuce bolted overnight. Boy, did they get tall! So the weekend before Spring Break (remember, I’m a teacher), I took my shears and an empty grocery bag out to my container garden and snipped off each head just where it started to stretch upward. Then I grasped the remaining stub and twisted it out of the soft planting mix. It took all of about five minutes to clear out the six heads.

My intention was to plant my spring garden during Spring Break, but then the weather did its thing again. What? Eighty degrees when I’m at work, but only sixty when I’m on vacation? That’s just not fair. But then I decided to take my cue from my lettuce. Since they all bolted, I did too. I turned on my computer and booked a flight to Hawaii. My spring garden could wait.

Had a lovely time. Read books, strolled along the beach, watched a few performances of traditional dancers, took a free ukulele lesson and bought my sister several patterns for Hawaiian quilting. Didn’t grade papers, didn’t plant my garden. Didn’t think about either.

The best part of having an easy condo garden is just that. It’s easy. It’s easy to plant. It’s easy to tend. It’s easy to harvest. It’s easy to leave when the whim strikes. No harm no foul.

Until next time,

Elizabeth