Otto wasn't impressed with that huge basket of green stuff I set down next to him. It was his dinner time, and he was expecting a dish of chicken and green beans, not a basket heaped high with lettuce! Later, as I was at the sink washing it, Annie kept poking my leg with her nose. Poke, poke, poke. She and Otto both do that when they want attention, and Annie does it when she wants food. I told her she wouldn't like lettuce, but she kept right on poking until I gave her a leaf. She likes lettuce. She adores radishes and carrots and green beans, but I wouldn't expect a dog to like lettuce!
When the lettuce leaves are 16" long, like this Cracoviensis, it doesn't take a lot of them to fill a laundry basket. After it was all washed, I put it into a big clean pillowcase, and Mr. Granny and granddaughter Alicia took turns twirling it around in the air to dry....outside, of course. When they were finished, I weighed it. Four pounds, four ounces of crispy, crunchy goodness. What on earth am I going to do with over four pounds of lettuce? So far, none of it has ended up in the compost, but that day may be near.So, did we have a big lettuce salad for our dinner? No. We had this.....................
A small, but delicious cabbage, half of which ended up in coleslaw, along with garden onion and carrots. Served with fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, it was mmmmmmmmm-good!
Rant time. The neighbor behind us began watering hisweeds garden before I was even out of bed yesterday morning. I try to get the berries picked early, but water from his impulse sprinkler was coming over the fence, all the way to my back lawn, so I couldn't pick the berries without getting soaked. By dusk, with his sprinkler still running, I braved it and got drenched getting the raspberries picked. I didn't even bother with the strawberries, as their foliage was so wet. Around ten last night, I took some things out to the shed, and that sprinkler was still running! I believe in deep watering, but that is just ridiculous. He had that water running for at least 15 hours, and then it rained in the night.
A small, but delicious cabbage, half of which ended up in coleslaw, along with garden onion and carrots. Served with fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, it was mmmmmmmmm-good!Rant time. The neighbor behind us began watering his
Too much lettuce!!?? I wish I had that problem! I'm beginning to think there's no hope for me to produce lettuce in Georgia, but I'm not ready to give up yet..
ReplyDeleteI can't believe he let his sprinkler run for 15 hours. I suppose it's different when you don't have the fear of drought consistently hanging over your head, but that just seems so wasteful to me..
Hopefully he'll give it a break soon so you can pick more of those beautiful strawberries!
Caffeinated Mom, you should try Anuenue, which is a Hawaiian variety and slow to bolt. We really did like it, and I see Johnny's Seeds has it on their internet sale right now. Unfortunately, I don't need any seeds (other than Anuenue), so I'm not going to pay shipping and handling to save a buck or two. It will, however, be the first thing on my list next spring! Another one we like is Summer Crisp. I bought that packet at Wal-Mart, it's from Burpee. Red Sails is slow to bolt and really dependable, too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrible waste of water, although I suppose it means that you don't need to water yourself! But very annoying when things are wet when you didn't want them to be.
ReplyDeleteMac, Blogger says your comment was published, but it's not here. Luckily I have it in my email! If it shows up later, I'll just delete it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tour, your garden is so lush and lovely especially that little blue flower Alicyn.
If Mr. Granny likes Anuenue lettuce you can get it directly from Univ. of Hawaii @ $1.00/pk, the handling fee is $0.50 for any amount of seeds you order, here's the link:
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/seed/seeds.asp
Download the order form (on left sidebar) and send them a check through snail mail. I have very good luck with their seeds.
Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Father's Day to Mr. Granny and your sons.
Thank you so much! I've bookmarked the link, and I'm so happy I'm not going to have to pay somewhere around $7-10 for a packet of lettuce seeds!
Thank you also for the well wishes for Mr. Granny and the boys. Both Mr. Granny and I are going to be well fed tomorrow, with brunch at daughter Amy's, and barbecued pork ribs dinner with son John :-)
Jan, this is what happens when we must pay for irrigation water, whether we use it or not. The cost is for unlimited use, from April-October, and some take advantage and over use it. My next door neighbor has her sprinklers on timers (HUGE yard) and has them set to go on twice a day, every day. Way more water than needed!
ReplyDeletethat is A LOT of lettuce! I don't even weigh mine, it would pale in comparison!
ReplyDeleteErin, the sad thing is, two nights in a row I haven't served lettuce. I did, however, pile as much as I could on my sandwich at lunch.
ReplyDeleteWe are drowning in lettuce at the moment too. Luckily, I had company today, so I made a huge green salad and shared some of the bounty with others. Your cabbage is just the right size and I bet it was tasty! As for your neighbor... shame on them wasting so much water! Do you think it was purposeful or did they just turn it on and then go somewhere and forget about it?
ReplyDeleteKitsap, I'm sure it was left on on purpose, but I don't think he meant to water my garden and half the back yard. We do sometimes have fluctuations in the water pressure through the irrigation system, and it was probably not going over the fence when he set it out. I know mine often goes over the fence to his side, but I only have mine running 60 minutes, not 15 hours!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a lot of lettuce!
ReplyDeleteAnd such a cute dog, too :)
And that sprinkler sure sounds annoying :( What a waste of water!
What a waste of water. Some people are just unbelievable. Don't they realize that in other countries, whole families survive on one bucket of fresh water a day?
ReplyDeleteI get so mad about these things. My neighbor turns on his sprinkler every night as well, which is ridiculous since the northeast hasn't experienced a drought since god knows when. He spends so much time obsessing about that lawn...it's not like he can even eat it! I don't get it!
By the way, 4 lbs of lettuce?! That bunny sure is lucky!
Thomas, it's too bad that bunny isn't about four times the size he is! I'm thinking that batch of lettuce is going to have some waste, as I have some gorgeous young heads ready to pull out to make room for more carrots. Cut lettuce leaves aren't something that can be donated somewhere, as it wouldn't hold up without refrigeration.
ReplyDeleteWow what a harvest of lettuce! I am jealous of your cabbage. Mine is having a hard time forming heads and I want to make sauerkraut!
ReplyDeleteI really don't get it when people water their lawn like that. How often does the lawn really need to be watered? When it does....there's usually a drought and you can't water anyway.
Robin, that cabbage should have had a bit more time in the garden, I just couldn't wait. Last year all my cabbages were ready by now, this year I've only had that one head get solid enough to cut.
ReplyDeleteThe berry sprinkler is at it again this morning! I can see that my back fence is soaked (so good for my cedar boards, huh?), but it just rained yesterday! We're lucky to have all the irrigation water we want from April-October, but that doesn't mean we have to waste it.
You obviously need more rabbits. Yours just aren't doing their job if any of that lettuce sees the compost bin.
ReplyDeleteI really want to try the hot weather lettuces, but I don't know if this year it will happen or not (I had a blog post all ready for Thursday, but it didn't get written and still isn't, life is crazy, right now I'm on a break before my house warming party) Anuenue is on my list if I can get it to germinate. I want to try Jericho too.
That sprinkler story is disheartening. That's not deep watering, but waste, pure and simple, especially with rain on the way.
ReplyDeleteWas that Cracoviensis from the seed I sent you? Mine never approached 16 inches. I'm so impressed, Annie. :)
Daphne, my rabbit probably doesn't weigh a pound and a half, and I'm always in awe of just how much he does eat!
ReplyDeleteI planted some Jericho seedlings last week, so I'll see how well they hold up in the heat. If we ever get any heat :-( Our normal temp for this day is 86, we just barely made it to 72 today.
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Meredith, the sprinkler was going again this morning, in the rain.
Yes, that 16" lettuce leaf was from the seed you sent! It got huge, but not a bit bitter. I cut it, rather than pulling it, so we'll see how it does as a caca variety (caca is The Idiot Gardener's shortcut for cut and come again). :-D