• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sustain My Cooking Habit

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes
    • Salads
    • Desserts
  • Gardening
You are here: Home / Gardening / Beginner Gardening Series – How to Plant Lettuce

Beginner Gardening Series – How to Plant Lettuce

April 13, 2020 by Jane and Sonja Leave a Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Yummly
  • Mix

Welcome back to our Beginner Gardening Series. Over the next few weeks we’ll go through the process of making a 5’x7’ backyard vegetable garden, step-by-step. Now that the garden bed is ready, it’s time to get planting! We’ll show you how to plant seeds outdoors, specifically lettuce seeds.

fast growing seeds

If you’d like to jump to a previous week, here is what we’ve covered (and will be covering):

Planning Your Backyard Garden
Supplies to Get for Making a Small Backyard Garden
Preparing the Backyard Garden for Planting
Planting Vegetable (Pepper) Seeds Indoors
Weeks 1-3: How to Plant Lettuce Seeds Outdoors (we are here)
Weeks 1-3: Planting Cold Crop Bulbs
Weeks 2-4: Planting Beets and Herb Seeds Outdoors (coming soon)
Garden Maintenance (coming soon)
Weeks 6-8: Planting Seedlings to the Garden (coming soon)
Troubleshooting (coming soon)
First Harvest! (coming soon)

This is the garden layout we are working towards. You can see that the onions and lettuce are planted in rows along one side of the garden.

And be sure to join our Facebook group where we’re we’ll be answering each others’ questions, sharing our gardens as they grow and troubleshooting along the way.

Certain types of vegetables can be planted directly into the garden as early as mid to end of April. Lettuce, onion and garlic are considered cold crops, preferring the cooler temperatures for growing.

These plants are hearty and able to withstand the colder temperatures that we still have in early Spring. Moreover, planting these vegetables earlier means harvesting them earlier as well. Being able to make this first harvest easy spring mix salad recipe in early May is delightful!

growing plants from seeds

If you’re planning to grow lettuce and have your seeds on hand, you are ready to start planting outdoors! But don’t worry if you’re behind, the growing window is long. You can also wait until June to plant the lettuce seedlings instead.

If you have other seeds, such as peppers and tomatoes, it’s the perfect time to plant these seeds indoors. And if you have onion and/or garlic bulbs on hand, you can plant these outdoors now as well!

If you’d like to keep track of what and when you planted, download our pretty vegetable garden journalling pages.

How to Plant Lettuce Seeds Outdoors

If you have a variety of lettuce seeds such as red leaf, green leaf and iceberg, you can mix them altogether for planting or keep them separated in your garden. 

In our case, we used lettuce seeds from last year’s dried unharvested crop. Taking the dried lettuce plant in hand, we broke apart the pods to release the small seeds inside until we had enough for planting. 

Using a hoe, turn the soil in the area you plan to place your lettuce seeds.

turn the soil in the area you plan to plant your seeds outdoors

Gather the seeds in one hand and sprinkle them over top of the turned soil. 

Sprinkle lettuce seeds over turned soil for planting.

Gently rake the soil just covering the lettuce seeds.

gently rake soil over the sprinkled lettuce seeds

Watering Lettuce?

If the soil is already moist, leave the seeds and soil for a few days without watering. In a couple of days, lightly water the seeds with a gentle misting if possible.  If the soil appears dry, you can water the planted seeds right away.  Continue to water every other day to keep the soil moist but not soaked. 

Within two weeks, you will start to see seedlings popping out of the soil. 

lettuce seedlings beginning to sprout

Harvesting Lettuce

After about 5 weeks the lettuce wil be ready to start harvesting. Cut the lettuce leaf close to the soil leaving the lettuce roots in the ground. Leave some lettuce to continue growing to harvest later.

easy vegetables to grow

Got a Critter Problem?

If critters are a problem in your area, consider putting chicken wire two feet high around the garden as we’ve done here. Staple the wire to wooden posts in all four corners to secure in place.

Secure chicken wire around your garden to prevent critters from entering.

In the coming weeks, we’ll discuss planting beets and herb seeds outdoors. We’d love to see how your garden is coming along! Share a picture of your prepared garden in the Happy Homecooks and Gardeners Facebook Group for feedback and more ideas.

Like it? Pin it for later!

Filed Under: Gardening, Homestyle Recipes Tagged With: diy, garden, gardening, seeds

Additional Recipe Ideas you Might Enjoy:

tender and juicy chicken drumsticks

Follow us on Pinterest for more delicious recipes ideas!

Previous Post: « Easy Garlic Shrimp Scampi Recipe
Next Post: Simple Frozen Perogies with Breadcrumbs »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Hello!

We're Jane & Sonja, sisters who've grown up learning our mom Branka's traditional ways in cooking, gardening and homemaking. We are happy to bring this modern homesteading lifestyle to you!

Recent Posts to Explore

stack of coconut crescent cookies
platter full of Easter nest cookies

Like us on Facebook for additional yummy ideas!

Sustain My Cooking Habit - Feeding Your Inner Homecook

Let’s Pin together!

Footer

You’ll be amazed at how simple it is to whip up You’ll be amazed at how simple it is to whip up a batch of this sweet treat with our delicious apple cinnamon bun recipe. 🍏🍎 Link is in the profile!⠀
⠀
#cinnamonbuns #sweettreat #appledessert #sustainmycookinghabit #freshfoods #yummymummy #thefeedfeed #breakfastrecipe #livethelittlethings #potluckfood #appleseason #cinnamonrolls #pastry #eeeeats #comfortfood #foodblogger #foodstagram #eatrealfood
Eating healthy doesn’t have to mean not enjoying Eating healthy doesn’t have to mean not enjoying it! 🍒 This vegan chocolate-cherry smoothie bowl is a delicious and nutritious way to start the day. Recipe is on the blog (link in profile). #smoothierecipes #smoothiebowl #vegan #plantbased #thefeedfeed #healthyfood #newyearsresolution
2019 was a wonderful year and starting Sustain My 2019 was a wonderful year and starting Sustain My Cooking Habit was one of the highlights! To celebrate 2020 we are offering something fun: a free printable calendar. With watercolor illustrations of our favorite kitchen goodies we hope the calendar inspires a whole year of cooking for you!⠀
⠀
January's page is available for download on the blog - or sign up to receive the entire calendar at once. Happy New Year friends!⠀
#happynewyears #2020calendar #printablecalendar #printables #foodie #sustainmycookinghabit #calendar2020 #wallcalendar #printdesign #calendardesign #calender #feedfeed #foodblog #foodpics #foodblogger #thekitchn #eeeeeats #instafood #instayum #buzzfeast #todayfood #thabakefeed #beautifulcuisines
These ladies and gent are enjoying a day outdoors! These ladies and gent are enjoying a day outdoors! We typically have snow by now, so it’s great that they can still be roaming around. 🐔 #bakbak #brood #chickensofinstagram #rustytherooster
Cheers friends! Wishing you a wonderful Christmas Cheers friends! Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and holidays from our families to yours. ⠀
#merrychristmas #seasonsgreetings #cheers #happyholidays #christmasgreetings
These bite-sized sweet waffle cookies may look lik These bite-sized sweet waffle cookies may look like your typical breakfast staple, but don’t be fooled! The chewy texture and sweetness make them a perfect, simple dessert cookie the family is sure to love. 
Recipe is on the blog! (Link’s in our profile)
#wafflecookies #belgianwaffles #christmastreat #sustainmycookinghabit
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Disclosures

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy & effectiveness of the information displayed on this website, Sustain My Cooking Habit makes no guarantee as to the procedures & information contained here. The publisher will not be liable for direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages in connection with or arising from the use of the information displayed on SustainMyCookingHabit.com. This website is not intended to substitute the advice of a professional.

Copyright © 2021 Sustain My Cooking Habit on the Foodie Pro Theme