Do you enjoy eating a bowl of fresh greens every day? If so, then growing your own lettuce might appeal you. Keep in mind that although lettuce (of different kinds) are always available in stores, they do not have a long shelf life, even if you place them inside the refrigerator.
So to make sure that you will always have fresh and crisp lettuce in every garden salad that you make, go ahead and learn the 
Here is how to grow lettuce at home:
Lettuce Seedlings
If this is your first time to plant lettuce, it is always recommended that you start with lettuce seedlings. It is easier to grow lettuce when roots have been established already. You can buy lettuce seedlings from a local farmer’s market or you can also check who are selling them online. There are many independent lettuce growers around, so you will not have a hard time finding them.
Choose The Planting Area Wisely
Lettuce like it best when the weather is cool and when there is sunshine as well. So it is best to plant them where the sun touches the area. The soil should also have at least a PH of 6. You can work on your soil’s PH easily by just adding mulch or agents that you can buy from garden supply stores. You might also want to plow the soil so that they will be crumbly and you must remove the stones and weeds alongside it. Mix in compost and manure to your soil before planting your lettuce seedlings.
Planting The Lettuce
When planting your lettuce seedlings, make sure that there is at least 8 inches open space in between plants. This will promote proper growth for your plants, because air will circulate better, and the roots under will have enough room to grow.
Nurturing The Lettuce
It is always best to water your lettuce just enough to moisten the soil. However, when watering lettuce, it is best done in the morning, so that the leaves will have enough time to dry. This will prevent bacteria or fungus to build up at night.
Harvesting Lettuce
Harvesting lettuce is easy. All you need to do is cut the leaves when you see that they are already fully grown. If you see that there are some leaves that are just sprouting, avoid cutting them. This will still grow and produce another batch of good harvest.
The nice thing about lettuce is that you can use them in a lot of ways. Aside from making a nice bowl of garden salad that is good for your body and health, you can also use it to make side dishes like coleslaws and use it to make delicious sandwiches that makes a healthy lunch.
These are the different ways to grow your own garden of fresh lettuce at home.
image courtesy of timsackton/flickr
