We have been eating leaf lettuce daily since early May, because we planted seeds of a leaf lettuce mix in March under a cold frame – basically a small greenhouse. That planting has grown tired, and we are now eating from a second planting I sowed in early June.

That will get old, too, so I just planted our third batch of leaf lettuce – without the cold frame. Planting now, baby lettuce should be ready sometime in October.

Select quick-maturing types like Salad Bowl and Red Salad Bowl, standards in our garden and available everywhere.

And when you begin harvesting those, plant some more under the cold frame, which will produce until the cold frame gets covered in snow – and maybe longer than that if you feel like tromping through the snow to get to the cold frame.