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How to harvest spinach and lettuce ?

7 years ago

This is my first year growing spinach and lettuce. I'm growing leaf lettuce (maturing now), spinach (maturing now) and romaine lettuce (not yet maturing).

is there a particular way I can harvest these 3 to promote future growth/future harvesting in this growing season? Thank you

Featured Answer

jnavarro31

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

For spinach and leaf lettuce, just keep picking the outer leaves as they mature. Eventually it will get too warm for spinach. Lettuce likes cool weather too, but mine always manages to keep growing even when it gets pretty hot out. The stalks will get long and floppy though, so eventually I just pick the last bit and yank the whole thing out and put something else in. We eat a lot of lettuce, so I sow seed at staggered start dates to ensure we'll always have some to pick.

For head lettuce, you pick the whole head when it is mature.

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Comments (7)

m_gold
Original Author
7 years ago
Thank you for your help.

Do you pull the leaves or cut them?
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The two varieties you mentioned are head-types. They will make heads just like you buy in the store. Wait (if you can) until the heads form, then slice off at the base of the head, inside the extra loose leaves. Other types, like black-seeded simpson, are leaf types and can be sown close together and just cut off an inch or so above the soil line. Both will re-grow but if you abort the lovely little buttercrunches before they head, you're really missing something. That's my favorite kind. I even grown icebergs - the kind in the groceries, though mine never get that large or dense. They're quite good, though.
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jnavarro31
7 years ago
I cut mine, mostly because I always figured that a) a more ragged tear might invite infection, and b) cutting means I don't risk pulling the whole plant up by accident, since I use raised beds with very friable soil. Plus, it gives me an excuse to pull out either my Opinel pruning or garden knife, one of which I pretty much always have on me :)
laceyvail 6A, WV
7 years ago
I harvest my leaf lettuce by cut and cut again. Spinach I just snap off biggest leaves. And spinach bolts from a combination of heat and day length. Mine went a couple of weeks ago.
gardengalrn6
7 years ago
Agree with the above. My spinach is about to go, too. I love butterhead types of lettuce and I still use those as leaf lettuce (come and cut again). Just cut the outer leaves and sometimes much of the inner. They keep on coming. Lori
Cathy Griffin
3 years ago
Thanks for all of these
annie1992
3 years ago
I also just cut my lettuce and it grows back, and my spinach has finally given up the ghost. A couple of 90+ degree days and it's bolted.

Annie

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