I've begun breaking off the lower leaves of the lettuce and it's working out great. I didn't have but one head ready so it leaves it to continue growing while the others size up.

The thumb sized ''baby'' salads are my favorites both at the store and from the garden.

First I "carefully" thin the ones too close together (because I ALWAYS end up with seeds bunched together) then I clip a leaf from each plant. When they are bigger I do it more like Dawn, cut a hunk here another there. I kept waiting for my spinach to get bigger last year and then it bolted :(

I know what you mean I always get some bunched up to close together. I wait until they are big enough to pick and then I can get some baby lettuce from the thinning's. I probably pick them to often but I've already got 3 good pickings off my lettuce and a couple of big freezer bags off the spinach. I don't try for heads on the lettuce I like the leaves just fine. On the Oklahoma Gardening show on PBS they were talking about picking every 30 days, but around here something will happen to it if it isn't picked more often. Rabbits or bugs! There are tiny grasshopper looking bugs all ready eating holes in anything with a wide leaf.

authereray, I think our tiny grasshopper population has just exploded this week because I'm seeing them and also seeing tiny holes in all the plants that the grasshoppers usually devour when they first show up. I'm hoping for enough rain to drown those little grasshoppers.

Dawn

I'm seeing lots of 1/4 in. and less.

Me too. Last week they were 1/8" and less and almost transparent. This week they are more of a yellow, tan or green shade and are the same size as yours. I don't usually even notice them very much when they are that small. If you get enough rain, they may drown. I'm not supposed to get that much rain down here. I hope the birds that hang around my garden will eat the hoppers before they get large enough to do major damage.

I harvest the lettuce when I want a salad or sandwich, lol. But I don't have a lot of it.

I have 3 rows about 15 ft. long. I cut all the larger outer leaves and leave the 2/3 small center leaves . They grow back fairly fast. I like the store bought Balsamic vinegar/ oil salad dressing drizzled over it better than just about any other kind. I used to get the Red Wine Vinegar salad dressing but it is hard to find any more. I like them on sandwiches also.

My all time favorite retail salad dressing without fail through the years is classic Kraft Creamy Italian and Mazzios has the exclusive rights (or use). They'll sell it to me in 16oz containers.

I can make a pretty decent mock Olive Garden salad. I like the dressing made from tabouli vegetables (without the tabouli).

I'm so eager to make some tabouli veggie salad.

Raspberry vinegarette makes an easy marinade for chicken.

We have recipes for all kinds of copycat dressings.. Homemade is best, but without all the preservatives and only two of us here it goes bad.

When I do the Mazzios salad dressing I down a 16oz in about a week. I maybe do it once a year. Absolutely nothing healthy about it. hehe In fact, I'm considering going and getting some now and robbing the lettuce in the garden. hehe

I don't even miss salad dressing. I use salt. Sometimes lime juice.

I generally just use a homemade olive oil and vinegar dressing, or sometimes add some fresh garden herbs to it. Tim is addicted to Paul Newman's Italian salad dressing. I try to go light on the dressing as I prefer to enjoy the flavors of the salad I'm eating. When we go to Fischer's meat market in Muenster, they have a huge selection of their own line of dressings in every flavor imaginable. I keep meaning to try one of their onion-flavored salad dressings, and their tomato-flavored one too.

Kim--I do use dressings, but I'm very persnickety. Mostly make my own. But my secret ingredient in the past year, which makes it most palatable and delectable to me, is salt. Not too much, but some. . . I'm on your page!

Sweet! The more the merrier.

This is more of an industrial-scale tool, but I've always though this quick green harvester was pretty cool. I'm working on setting up a market garden on my uncle's property and plan to build something like this or harvesting.

I can't believe lettuce and spinach is has already been bolting in our garden. I think we harvested at least into May last year and maybe even early June. We keep pinching it off and throwing to the chickens hoping we can save them.

Seems like I always wait too long to harvest spinach. ::running out to check spinach::