Total beginner with new raised bed & some questions

Hi everyone,

Edit 12 hours later with no replies yet ... Hmm, maybe I should have titled this one more interestingly? I hope someone has some info. Maybe I've just got to learn by experience.

Anyway: We built a raised veggie bed over the 4th of July weekend. Bought a bunch of plants to try, including heirloom tomatoes, corn, peppers, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, Greek oregano, and purple basil. We even threw in a cantaloupe plant because our little boy loves it and we thought it would be fun for him to grow his own. The evening after we planted everything it began sprinkling and it continued to rain all that evening and the next day, which was Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday were off and on showers, but I watered a little bit yesterday after work because I had read you should keep the garden moist for the first week, and most of the latter part of the day yesterday it was cloudy, but not raining. Well today has dawned gloriously sunny and it looks like it might be a hot one, and I'm not sure what to do - should I go ahead and water knowing that it might get hot later? Or should I leave it be? We are in the far north coastal Pacific Northwest near the Canadian border.

My second question has to do with the lettuce and basil, as most of the plants look a little unhappy today. In fact, a bit wilted. I've done a fair amount of non-veggie gardening and I would see this as some kind of transplant shock, but they did great for the first couple of days so I don't think that's it. And with all the rain, I would think they wouldn't be lacking in water.

The lettuce varieties are Summer Crisp (the red kind) and Salad Mix (which is green, not as upright as Summer Crisp, but definitely not a head lettuce).

Thanks for any advice you can give! The photo is of one of the happier looking Summer Crisps. You can see one of the leaves of an unhappy one in the background. :(

Jennifer

This message was edited Jul 9, 2009 6:37 PM

Jenifer, Your lettuce looks fine. I don't think you need to water unless your soil looks dry. Your area is high humidity. Right?
It takes a couple of weeks for plants to normally get over transplanting and begin to take off.
How long is your growing season? Some of your veggies need a rather long growing season.
Hope you injoy your garden and have good luck.
Vickie

Thanks Vickie. It was hot today, so I gave the garden a good watering this morning before work. I'm going to check it tomorrow, hopefully the lettuce will have perked up a bit. If not, I noticed the local coop has some very nice looking lettuce starts and I'm willing to take out the ones that don't make it and replace them!

Silly question: When can I start harvesting lettuce leaves? Should I take all of the plant's leaves at once, or is it okay just to cut off the biggest leaves?

Like I said, I'm a total beginner at veggies!

Here's a picture of the whole garden. The lettuce is the furthest away from the camera.

This message was edited Jul 11, 2009 12:05 AM

Pacificbay, I planted head lettuce that I had purchased at a nursery for the first time this year. At first they were all wilted and I was sure they would die. I read something that said the outer leaves do wilt off, so I left them in the ground. Sure enough they took right off and were find. I'm not sure but I think it took 2-3 weeks before I saw growth. Hope this helps.

Depending on the actual temperature, that may be your problem. Most lettuces are cool weather crops, as are the kale, broccoli and cauliflower. I don't know how the growing season runs where you are, but I hope you won't be too disappointed if you don't have great success this year, it's kind of late for many areas. If it cools of too fast, too soon, the tomatoes and cantaloupe are likely to succumb before producing much. Where I am, I can plant a fall cool weather crop, but I don't know about your location. It could be that your concept of "hot" is quite different from mine:)

Margo

I pinch my lettuce a few leaves per plant as soon as they're big enough for a bite or enough leaves to survive to lose a couple. The leaves get a bitter taste as they get older.

Thank you all for your tips and ideas!

DDDAL, I think I'll just pinch off the bigger leaves and eat them (as cando1 suggests), and let the rest come back if they want to.

catmad, My first thought was cool weather crops, too - but the ones I bought are supposed to be summer friendly. Since you're in South Carolina, I'm going to venture a guess that my idea of "hot" is probably your idea of "nice and breezy". :) Good point about the tomatoes and cantaloupe, though. There are usually at least some days through early September that are fairly nice, so I'm hoping at best to get a few dozen tomatoes through July and August. October is when the really cold weather starts. I suspect whatever cantaloupe emerges will not have time to get very big before the end of August, but there is already a flower on the plant.

Jennifer

I live in Northeast Louisiana and the temp has been 100 for the last 30 days. Got .6 of rain Monday and cooled down to 80. Thought we were having a cold snap. By the time I found my long drawers it was back to a 100 again. Cando1 is right on with her advice. Keep the lettuce pinched off. You don't want the leaves to get to big. Have you ever heard of wilted lettuce? Put lettuce leafs in a bowl and add chop up a few green onions and toss in. Fry up some bacon and take the drippings while they are piping hot and pour over the lettuce and onions. Great.