Gardening: Spring Lettuce

I had thought that all of my lettuce from the fall planting was picked or long gone. The winter freezes are more then most lettuces can handle. I had cleared out the bed and turned the soil in early spring in hopes to plant some thing new. My schedule kept that from happening. The garden gnomes must have known that and took care of the few seeds which didn’t sprout in the fall. Thanks to their tender care I now have a nice crop of Great Lakes and Black Seed Simpson lettuce. I picked the first bunch last night fearing it might bolt up and go to seeds as the summer temperatures rise above where their green leaves thrive. They actually already were getting high enough I was worried about it tasting a bit bitter. The other night I picked the tops off of 4 plants. I’m happy to say that this bunch of beautiful greens are quite delicious and made delicious mango chicken sausage lettuce wraps for lunch.

Trader Joe’s sells a wonderfully delicious fully cooked, pork free, mango chicken sausage. They also sell delicious fully cooked, pork free, chicken sweet Italian and chicken apple sausages. I usually toss them straight into the freezer when I bring them home. This helps keep them fresh longer and provides a handy “cold pack” in lunches.