Do n’t you just love moolah ? The crisp and the crunch of it while it is covered in your favorite dressing along with other good veggie . It just defecate you feel right , does n’t it ?
So it should n’t make out as a surprisal that many people care to grow it , specially in the gloam when it is nice and nerveless .
See , lettuce loves nerveless temperatures . That is why it can be produced during wintertime in a greenhouse , in early spring when your organic structure is craving something fresh , or in the downslope as the weather starts to cool off after a long hot summer .
However , if you are going togrowit , then you need to sleep together how to harvest lettuce and also how to make it last as long as possible . Well , here is the information you are going to call for :
Everything You Need to Know About Your Lettuce Harvest
1. Harvesting Lettuce
Harvesting scratch will vary a trivial depending upon what kind oflettuceyou have resolve to uprise . If you go with foliage moolah , then you ’ll have to trim down it off when it is about 4 - 8 - column inch improbable . you may crack it off with your finger’s breadth , but I personally prefer to use scissors grip to cut it .
However , I would recommend only planting a minuscule amount of leaf lettuce ( unless you have a really orotund group of people to feed ) because if you clip it back to the surface , the plants will get new foliage in only a affair of week .
You will invariably have fresh cabbage total in .
Still , if you plant bread that form head like Romaine boodle or Iceberg kale , then you ’ll want to wait until the head have reached the desire size .
Then you could use a sharp tongue to trim the heads of lettuce off at the dirt . When you have harvested your lettuce , you ’ll have to put the head in a large field goal so they do n’t bruise in between the garden and getting them to your kitchen .
Also , be certain to trim down the burden and any sullen or damage spots out of the lettuce prior to convey it in for storage .
Once you have harvested your shekels , you require to do it how to houseclean and store it .
2. How to Clean Your Lettuce
Now that you have harvested your fresh , immature , and crisp scratch it is authoritative to eff how to pick it . The downside to develop your own lettuce is that if you do n’t clean it good , you could end up consume dirt and bugs .
Though those things are n’t really bad for you , in our minds , they are rather gross so we endeavor to avoid it .
You ’ll have to ask yourself a few doubtfulness before cleaning your impudently harvested loot :
If you are run to ware your lettuce decent aside , then you ’ll definitely have to wash it . When wash it , you ’ll place each head in half-hearted water supply for about 30 seconds . This helps to loosen any really tough , stick - on turd and determined small bugs .
Then you ’ll take out the lettuce and wash it under cold urine for about 30 indorsement . This round of washing will remove any liberal dirt .
Finally , you ’ll launch the lettuce under cold H2O as many times as you feel necessary for 30 instant at a time until you feel comfortable that you have remove all grunge and hemipteran .
Then you ’ll place the lettuce in a cullender orlettuce spinnerto dry . If you use a colander , you ’ll have to provide it to dribble dry for about 10 minutes . If you use a lettuce spinster follow the instructions . It usually only claim about 2 minute of arc for dry time .
Now , if you are n’t planning on using the moolah mightily aside ( and you are lave head loot ) , then you ’ll have to wait to wash it until you are going to use it . Just postdate the same step when this clock time issue forth . When using head lettuce , it in reality endure longer if it is not introduced to spare moisture .
However , we still must respond question number 2 ; what kind of shekels am I looking at ? If you have originate foliage lettuce , it is a great producer , but only lasts for about a workweek at a time .
So you ’ll definitely need to wash and apply as quickly as possible .
However , if you get principal loot , like Romaine or Iceberg , then do n’t lap it , and it should last for at least a couple of hebdomad .
3. How to Store Lettuce
How you stack away lettuce also determines how long the lettuce itself will last . wet is a immense foe for lettuce so it is crucial to store it in a way that excess moisture ca n’t ruin it , and it is also significant to keep your loot cool .
Let ’s start with leaf dinero . If you have harvested leaf lettuce , you ’ll have to come the direction above to clean it . Then you will allow the foliage lettuce to dry .
Next , you ’ll enfold the clams in a paper towel to engross any superfluous moisture . You then place the leaf lucre in a store bag and commit it in your fridge . Keep an eye on the newspaper publisher towel every 24-hour interval . If you begin to see that it is full of moisture , then it is fourth dimension to unwrap the lettuce and envelop the leaves in a bracing newspaper towel which can well pull wet .
Now , if you are trying to hive away head lettuce , you ’ll have to retard washing until you plan on using it .
However , if you have a with child head , then you ’ll have to wash , dry , wrap in a paper towel , and store in a plastic bag in your fridge until you apply it up .
Again , it is significant to watch the paper towel to ensure that it does n’t become too damp . If you see that it is becoming saturated with water , then you ’ll involve to pull that paper towel out and wrap the lettuce in a overbold paper towel . This is significant because the more wet you keep away from the kale , then the crisper it will remain .
4. Can You Preserve Lettuce?
Yes , you’re able to really carry on boodle for longsighted - term use . To the best of my cognition , you ca n’t can it .
However , you could useother saving method . The first method you could use is freezing . Yes , you could actually freeze kale ! How nice is that ?
Now , I call for to be upfront with you . You do n’t want to immobilize it suppose you ’ll have new salad in the middle of winter . Instead , you ’ll freeze it to use in a casserole , soup , or a stew even . You would definitely have to misrepresent it for it to be suitable to your taste bud .
Even so , you just houseclean the lettuce and bulge out it in a freezer dish until you are ready to cook with it . It is very simple and a great direction to preserve your lettuce harvest if you have too much come in at once .
Also , I should advert , that thick lettuce types ( like Romaine ) are best for this method acting . When you freeze lettuce , it will crystalize . If you freeze out thin dough , then it turns into a goopy great deal .
However , if you block a duncical type of lettuce , then it can withstand the moisture from the crystallisation outgrowth that takes home during freeze .
Our 2d method isfermenting lettuce . I live , you may be thinking I ’ve mislay my head , but I really have n’t .
Now , I ’m still having to leap on circuit board with all of the fermented foods craze . I cognise they are skilful for gut bacterium which is peachy for our health , but I ’m still Modern to this .
However , this seems like a great agency to preserve lettuce and love it in a unique and healthy manner . Not to remark , it does n’t take many ingredients to really ferment lettuce , which is always a good matter .
lastly , you candehydrate lucre . This seems like a really great option in my personal opinion because it is easy , prompt , and you may use it for lots of different things .
For instance , if you are really large into sound green smoothies , then you might wish desiccate boodle for that burst of green in your smoothy . You just dry up and then turn your lettuce into a fine powder that will easily add a health cost increase to your favorite smoothie .
Or you could apply dehydrated pelf leaves for making delicious microchip . This could be a healthy bite that you might really bask .
Recipes to Utilize Your Lettuce Harvest
When you grow lettuce , let ’s be honest , you’re able to only eat so many salad before you are just sting out . That is why I wanted to bring you a dyad of recipes from around the World Wide Web that will show you that lettuce can be used for much more than a basic salad .
Here is what I come up with :
1. Stir-Fried Lettuce
This dinero looks like a delicious side to lend to any good for you dinner . It includes many of the traditional flavorings of other stir - Christopher Fry you might have had .
However , this one is all ground around Romaine lettuce , and it only takes about 5 minutes to make too !
2. Lettuce Soup
This might blow your creative thinker on a cold winter mean solar day , lettuce might be what you utilise to warm up .
With this recipe , that could emphatically be the case . You ’ll have to mark off it out !
3. Grilled Romaine Lettuce
This is another hearty dish that is base around lettuce . You take a whole capitulum of Romaine lettuce and grill it with other delicious veggie and flavors .
Then you have quite a healthy , delicious , and easy meal in no clock time matte .
4. Lettuce Wraps
The first time I ever hear about a sugar wrap was from my sister about 10 years ago . PF Changs had just actuate into our region , and she was hooked .
Now , fast forward a 10 afterward and lettuce wraps are very common , but I still retrieve most would agree that PF Changs ’ wraps are still amazing . Which is why I thought many mass would revalue this formula .
Well , you now know how to harvest , sporting , memory board , and preserve your scratch crop . You even have a few recipes to utilize your harvest that is a act out of doors of the average .
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