Did I Let the Lettuce Grow Too Long?
Just how long is too long? Should I have harvested the 
lettuce when they were still small? Should I have thrown them on the compost pile when they started to bolt? Should I have ruthlessly yanked them out of the ground when they started to bloom? And what about now, when they’ve gone to seed?
Before now, I’d never actually seen a lettuce plant bloom. But when I noticed that the remaining lettuce in the vegetable garden had started to flower, I decided to leave them and see what would happen. I guess it’s not surprising that they did what flowering plants usually do – they formed seeds. Since it’s time to sow fall lettuce, I’ve simply scattered the seeds throughout the empty vegetable bed and, hopefully, lettuce plants will emerge in time for at least a few salads before the hard frosts arrive.
Below: Lettuce gone to seed Right: 4-foot tall lettuce leaning over the vegetable bed’s fence
