Today harvesting fresh lettuce and pruning cabbage in GreenStalk #2. The cool weather plants have enjoyed the weather this summer more than we humans, and this tower was ready for some attention! Keeping on top of plant care is especially helpful when gardening vertically, to let in sunlight and air all around.
The lettuce varieties in this tower are:
- Herkules
- Great Lakes 118
- Sioux
- Calmar
- Apache
- Hilde II
I love the mix of color, texture and form on my plate when I grow several kinds!
Several of these are known to be heat resistant, but all of them performed excellently through an unseasonal heat wave with temperatures in the high 20s all through May, and I will grow all of these again. With the possible exception of Hilde II - and that for the sole reason that I happen to be the only one in my particular household who appreciates butter lettuce.
The pointed cabbages are Express and Caraflex - and I'm finding my favorite of these two is Express which has lived up to it's name and already has firm, good size heads forming in spite of a somewhat late start from my end.
These plants are growing in four of five tiers in a GreenStalk 5-Tier Leaf vertical planter (up top are some recently planted Swiss chard seedlings that are still small and not so noticeable from the angle in the video) on a GreenStalk Ultimate Spinner. This GreenStalk is in a shadier part of my garden.
The lettuce gave a beuatiful harvest that will last us all week, and while the outer cabbage leaves are getting kinda tough at this point and may look a little less appealing after the bugs have been snacking on them, I will clean and cook them well and use them in the kitchen as well. Too many nutrients there to let them go to waste!
There was a huge pile of lettuce after this video! After a washing and spinning, I let them dry on a towel a bit, and then packed them lasagne-style in an airtight container for storing. The towel and paper towel will absorb moisture and keep them wonderfully crisp.
- First line the container with a dish towel.
- Add a 4-5 cm layer of lettuce, loosely packed
- Lay a double layer of paper towel on the lettuce
- Repeat lettuce/paper towel/lettuce/paper towel as needed, then wrap with the dish towel and add lid.
We've never had a lettuce harvest go uneaten more than six days, but I can vouch for lettuce stored like this stays wonderfully crisp and flavourful for at least 6 days.