More Spring Planting

Yesterday, Michal transplanted some lettuce for me (romaine in this picture). Lettuce is a cool weather vegetable; it does well in the weather we are having here now in this part of New Jersey with highs in the 60s and occasional rain. Later, in August when the weather is reaching into the 90s, lettuce bolts. Here is a bit of an explainer on the process, taken from this website:

Lettuce bolts because it is trying to move onto the next step in its life cycle. These leafy vegetables don’t bolt because a gardener is ‘doing it wrong’ or is killing their plants. Bolting is the natural progression of the life cycle in the lettuce’s attempt to reproduce. 

When lettuce bolts, it’s attempting to flower, which once pollinated will turn to seed. Lettuce isn’t so much on an ironclad timetable but instead responds to its surroundings to know when it’s time to reproduce. When days get longer, hotter and dryer (i.e. when summer starts), lettuce will start to flower. As pollinators are more active in the spring time when flowers are blooming, lettuces have grown and adapted their life cycles to when they’re most likely to be pollinated.