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First harvest - June 1st 2019
May was sunny, and June came on full force with alternating heavy rain and temperatures that feel like summer. As a result, last week we had our first real harvest from the raised beds, asides from the occasional strawberries: a full head of iceberg lettuce. It was a very hot spring day (28 C) and we had our first BBQ session of the year. I watered the lettuce in the morning to harvest a nicely plump lettuce in the afternoon. I made a starter salad out of it with just some tomatoes and peaches, and a lemony dressing.
It was very satisfying to see the lettuce grow bigger and stronger while I took care of it, and finally having it result on the plate. It tasted like I remember iceberg lettuce tasting in the past - which is notably different from the mostly stemmy white crunchy stuff chunks you get in bags in the supermarket - it tasted very fresh with a slightly bitter note, and its texture was crisp. I grew the iceberg lettuce from small plug plants, and I have four left which we will harvest in the next few weeks. After this I hope the picking lettuce I've sown will be ready for eating. I sowed 4 different varieties of lettuce: Oak leaf (Hertshoornbladsla) "Catalogna", Crisp leaf lettuce (Bataviasla) "Blonde de Paris", and loose leaf lettuces (pluksla) "Amerikaanse Roodrand" and "Abby Red". I'm looking forward to trying them all, and to compare their qualities.
