NEW IN MY NEW YORK CITY GARDEN

I've been picking a crop of lettuce that self-seeded when I failed to rip out the tired plants July 2011. The lettuce went to seed, germinated and produced small leaves by Sept., then wintered over. It's a special treat to have free salads now.

A River Birch has just turned its fall color, beautiful in October, but in June. One of my hydrangeas was also crying out "LN, LN". Investigation showed that the tap to the automatic drip system had been shut off by person or persons unknown. The tap now has full body armor and the birch has started to drop all of it's leaves. I'm hoping it will re-leaf to get it through the rest of the summer.
One of my three Montauk daisies, usually the last perennial to bloom in my garden each October, is bursting into full bloom. It probably thinks that the pathetic season we went through in January and February was spring. After it finishes blooming I'll cut it back and hope for re-bloom in fall. Something strange is also happening in my boxes of annuals. Yes I knew my Calabrachoa had over-wintered for the first time in history, but now strange leaves are appearing both here and in the base of the flowering plum trees. My best guess is that a stealth gardener has planted pumpkin seeds. I'll leave them alone to see what happens.

FEBRUARY LETTUCE, NYC

On May 30, 2011, I had the pleasure of cutting some small leaves for a salad. I enjoyed the irony of 'Wine Country Mesclun' advertised as "straight from the Napa Valley" growing in a container on my roof in Manhattan. I once lived in California 30 miles from the Napa Valley and I know that Third Ave. it ain't.
That same spring I planted 'Monet's Garden Mesclun' from seeds I'd also been given to try by Renee's Garden Seeds.I don't use any dressing on my salads so I taste the flavor of the pure ingredients. Both of these mescluns were DELICIOUS and ridiculously easy to grow by just broadcasting seeds in containers and covering with 1/4 in. of soil.
By mid-summer, the lettuces had gone to seed, as they do in full sun and high heat.
Partly because I'm the laziest gardener extant, partly because I'm thrilled with nature's ability to replant without needing a gardener, I left the old stalks where they were. Ugly, right?By Sept. 30 new seedlings had emerged from the soil and I had visions of a second crop before winter. But these guys didn't seem to grow, just muddled along though the holiday season and our extraordinarily warm winter. Today in a light dusting of snow they're slightly bigger, and I hope to have a harvest in March.I keep watching; better than a Broadway show. Of course not so beautiful as lettuces in the Louise Loeb Vegetable Garden at the NYBG, laid out in neat rows, but MINE, ALL MINE. (O.K., not all mine, I must share with others in the building, but you know what I mean.)
This season I'll be trying Renee's Wasabi Arugula for it's spicy leaves and edible white blossoms. Visit: Reneesgarden.com for their selection of 20 lettuce varieties with planting instructions for each.

a pot full of lettuces

I was tempted to post another knotweed recipe today. (I started a batch of wine this morning!) But since it's possible you may not all share my fascination with foraging, I thought I'd get off my wild foods horse and talk about lettuce. Because despite our two days of 90 degree weather last week, this is lettuce season.

Lettuce is wonderfully suited to city gardens for several reasons:

1) City gardens are usually small, and city gardeners have to make the most of their limited space. Lettuce has a small footprint. A 24 inch pot can hold 12-15 heads of lettuce. Really.
2) With a shallow root system, lettuce grows blissfully well in containers; 8 inches of depth will suffice. If all you have is a few pots on a terrace or stoop, lettuce won't know the difference.
3) It's an early (cool weather) crop, so you can re-use the container later in the season for a second, warm weather vegetable. When your lettuce starts to bolt (i.e. it gets leggy, bitter, and sets flower buds), the weather and soil are warm enough for eggplant, tomatoes, or peppers, all of which thrive in high heat. What could be more efficient than using one container to produce two edible crops?
4) No store bought lettuce compares with home grown. When your salad was picked a mere 10 minutes before serving the taste is incomparable: sweet, succulent, and alive.

It's too late to start seed now for a spring crop, but flats and plugs of small plants are available at almost every garden center and big box store. You can also buy seeds now to plant in September for a fall harvest.

Lettuces grow best in full sun and moist soil, but if your garden is partly shady, they're still worth trying. The heads may not get to be as large and full as the heads you see at the green market, but with 4 hours of sun you'll still produce some choice edibles.

Notice the netting? If you have a problem with pigeons, you may want to cover your greens. I've seen city pigeons decimate a leafy crop in a matter of minutes; don't let it happen to you.

Try a combination of lettuces: red sails, romaine, green leaf, butterhead, and some arugula for a little bite. And if you enjoy foraging (anyone?) throw in a few garlic mustard leaves, watercress, and some chickweed. You'll never look at a supermarket salad bar again.