Oakleaf Lettuce

I have been experimenting on the types of lettuce that will grow well in my garden. So far I’m successful. Like this red oakleaf lettuce I planted a month ago. They are so good, crunchy and sweet. I like the red color in combination with the green leaves of the Manoa lettuce in my salad bowl. I tried to do succession plantings so I won’t run out of lettuce for my salad. So while I am enjoying this red oakleaf lettuce, I have already sowed another variety called prize head lettuce. It is also a loose leaf type but the leaves have a tinge of red or maroon color. It is also crispy and sweet. I am ready to transplant them as soon as I find a space in the garden.
Lettuce is rich in minerals and vitamins A,B,C, D and E so it is really worth planting them even in a pot if you don’t have much space.
Lettuce is easy to grow. It needs loamy soil and consistent watering. I mix blood meal and compost to the soil and just dress a little bit of a balance fertilizer every two weeks during the growing phase. It needs nitrogen for good leaves and blood meal provides that. Chicken manure is also a good source of nitrogen, but sometimes it is so strong that plants wilt. It also needs full sun but needs protection during summer months because the intense heat will cause it to bolt prematurely and that will make the leaves to taste bitter. I cover the lettuce bed with window screens if intense heat is in the forecast.

Similar Posts

  • Okra Flower

    I always plant Okra in my garden. It is an indispensable ingredient in the famous Filipino recipe called “Pinakbet”. I actually just cook that today. I gathered enough eggplants, bittermelons, okra and winged beans today that compelled me to make pinakbet. I also gathered some tomatoes which is also an important ingredient for pinakbet. I…

  • Artichoke

    Artichoke is perennial vegetable that belongs to the thistle family of plants. The edible part of the plant is the bud before it opens into a flower. The immature florets in the center of the bud is called the “choke” but its not edible. You have to remove it from the base called the heart,…

  • Lettuce Plus

    Its been raining today and I figured its the right time to transplant my lettuce seedlings. So I gathered the remaining lettuce from the garden to make room for the new transplants. I gathered some eggplants and Kinchay or leaf celery. The rain almost always makes it foolproof to plant such delicate plants like the…

  • Sweet Potato Leaves

    Sweet potato leaves are considered as an everyday food in the Philippines. It is served steamed and teamed with a dipping sauce we call fish bagoong. You can also use it as a substitute for “un choi” or “kangkong” in making “sinigang” which is a sour soup. I have this sweet potato planted in my…

  • Winged Beans

    I sowed the winged beans seeds together with the long beans and hyacinth beans last February. The long beans is almost finished producing but the winged beans are just starting to flower and I just saw one bean. Because the seed of the winged beans is so hard, you need to scarify it or soak…