How to Harvest and Store Lettuce

When it comes to fast food, you can't get much faster - or healthier - than a salad made of home-grown lettuce and doused with a good dressing. Gardeners have a multitude of lettuces to choose from, and many of them you'll rarely find in produce markets.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Garden Knives
• Plastic Storage Bags
• Salad Bowls
• Salad Spinners
• Scissors

1. Pick lettuce early in the morning when the leaves are still crisp.

2. Start harvesting leaf lettuces as soon as they're big enough to use. Cut leaves from the outside of the plant, letting the inner ones continue to develop. You can also take the whole plant, cutting it off about an inch above the ground, and letting it re-grow.

3. Harvest head lettuces when they're firm and fully formed. Slice them off at ground level with a knife.

4. Use all lettuces immediately for best flavor and texture.

5. Store lettuce in sealed plastic bags in your refrigerator's crisper. Depending on the variety, it will last from a few days to two weeks.

Tips & Warnings

• The firmer the lettuce the longer it will keep. You can successfully keep iceberg for up to two weeks, Romaine for about 10 days, butterhead and leaf lettuces for about four days.

• Don't store lettuce or other greens near fruits such as bananas and apples; the ethylene they give off as they ripen will cause brown spots on the lettuce, leading to rapid decay.