Eating Lettuce in December!

[Black Thumb Pat]

I bought some frost cover from Farm Tek with the idea of doing a little winter gardening. Couldn't do it at my place, but my neighbor planted a wonderful row of lettuce. We cut six Wal-Mart bags of the freshest, sweetest lettuce this past Friday (12/2). We have had frost almost every night since the week before Thanksgiving. I couldn't get over there due to illness, but will investigate tomorrow to see if anything has survived our freezing and below nights. This was not a real expensive experiment.

Black Thumb Patt ;)

[Silent]

Looks like the black thumb may be turning a bit greener?

[HillsideDigger]

I still have pretty good lettuce here in the NC foothills the last week of January and by all means it should have been frozen out at least 6 weeks ago, hasn't been below 20 degrees yet, most years would have had several mornings in the single digits by now. Unfortunately, if the lack of normally cold temperatures persists thru spring, there could be usually abundant pests surviving this winter.

[deb65802]

I lay down a thick layer about 2 inches of cardbowrd tro keep out the weeds.I make a bed of 8 bales of hay of top of the card board three one ach side and one on each end. inside i fill with compost. There I plant squash beans lettuce kale anything I want to try to grow for as long as possible. I top this with a window sash. Works great. great for seedlings too. Here in so Mo I can grow greens carrots lettuce kale cabbage etc all year long.

[mrtomatoexpres]

hi i grow lettuce,minnie tomatoes,peppers,eggplants,beans inside. i hate to buy veggies from the stores espesially tomatoes. i do not like the taste of cordboard. :)

[justdoit]

We use a small unheated greenhouse with raised beds to grow winter lettuce and cabbage family veggies. You could do the same with a portable PVC pipe framework covered with plastic. Actually, we use a very open weave fiberglass embedded in plastic. It is sold by suppliers for chicken houses...used as the roll down window coverings. It will last for at least 10 years and is not horribly expensive. It's been on our greenhouse for about 12 years and has survived everything, including some hail bad enough to damage the roof of the house.

[don_maples]

I've been growing lettuce during the Winter for 20 years.
It shirks off 20 degree nights, is slightly damaged by 15 degrees, is severely damaged by 10 degrees and likely killed by lower temps. Growth in young lettuce is slowedby cold. Here at Tuscaloosa, AL in Jan. when our average daily spread 55 F - 35 F growth is Imperceptable. Mulch covering can radically alter hardiness. Once some seedlings under a shrub survived 0 F . Seedlings under snow cover can get through Winter in most if not all our States.

[TastyofHasty]

Justdoit said:

Actually, we use a very open weave fiberglass embedded in plastic. It is sold by suppliers for chicken houses...used as the roll down window coverings.

JDI, if you read this ... is there a LINK or something where we can look at (or buy) this stuff online? Could you post a picture of it?

[justdoit]

TOH, Latco is the company name... they supply the large chicken growers in Cassville, MO. They have it on hand... I believe it was 12' wide ... you buy it by the linear foot. We used lathe to nail it onto the wooden plate on top of the foundation blocks. My DH uses a double layer with an air pump to inflate the space between layers. I don't care for the reduction in light, but don't 'always' get things my way. <darn> ;O) You should be able to to find one near you. Look under Poultry Equipment and Supplies in your yellow pages. My phone book shows another supplier in Washburn, MO called Eagan's.

One of my neighbors used to have a commercial rabbit growing business. They had 3 houses similar to what is built for raising chickens... with the roll down window covers and huge fans and swamp coolers, etc. They told us about the material and how long it lasts. I believe ours lasted at least 12 years... we finally replaced it this spring.

[winter_unfazed]

The best winter varieties of lettuce are 'Valdor', 'Rouge d'Hiver', and 'Winter Density'.

[TastyofHasty]

justdoit, is this it? (called Fiberglass Woven Roving on here, 50" wide):
http://www.fiberglasssite.com/servlet/Detail?no=3

... or this is called "Biaxial cloth":
http://www.fiberglasssite.com/servlet/Detail?no=77

and this looks interesting, called "Biaxial Mat" (50" wide):
http://www.fiberglasssite.com/servlet/Detail?no=69

[justdoit]

Toh, this doesn't look like the same thing to me. If you will send me an email with your address, I'll mail you a sample piece of the fabric. It may not work for what you want to grow, but is fine for what we do.