One more thing i forgot to ask. If I just leave the seeds on the lettuce, will they reseed themselves next spring?

Yes the lettuce gets long and straggly and blooms. The seeds are many and pretty obvious. Wait for them to dry before harvesting.

I had lettuce that went to seed in the garden last spring. It came up in the fall on its own --and we had the best late lettuce. So maybe you should let some fall!

I get volunteer seedling lettuces very rarely here in England.

I save my own lettuce seed. Mature seed looks like a miniature version of dandelion seed heads, and just like dandelion seed, lettuce seed also blows away easily. I guess there must be quite a number of blown away seed all over my garden. However, very few volunteer plants.

I did have a dozen once after a particularly mild and dry winter, but if I were to rely on this method, we would have very little lettuce. I guess lettuce seed can easily rot over winter and then not germinate. It may be easier and more successful on soil that drains freely, rather than on our clay.

We are zone 8 equivalent here.