saving_eggplant_lettuce

GROWING HEIRLOOM EGGPLANT

Sow seeds indoors 1/4 inch deep, 8 weeks before setting out plants. Provide bottom heat of 80 to 90 degree F. Seedlings do best around 70 degrees. A week of 60 degree temperatures just before moving to the garden will prepare them for transplanting. Eggplants are ready to be set out whem the weather has moderated and daytime temperatures reach the 60's. Place transplants 18 inches apart, in rows spaced every 2-3 feet. To prevent diseases, do not grow eggplant in soil that has recently hosted them or other members of the night shade family.

HARVESTING HEIRLOOM EGGPLANT:

Harvest the fruits before they get to their full size. Overripe eggplant tastes bitter, and prompt picking encourages production. Be sure to cut fruits from the plant rather than trying to twisi or tear them free. Use them right after harvest to enjoy them at their best. So not store them in the refrigerator.

SAVING HEIRLOOM EGGPLANT SEEDS

Take seeds from the eggplant that are past ripe and have lost their glossiness, spoon out the seedy center and rinse in a sieve to seperate the sees. Dry them on glass plantes.

GROWING HEIRLOOM LETTUCE

Lettuce takes to cool weather, 65 F. and down. that holds for all types, but warmth is less apt to interfere with romain, and crisphead varieties. Begin sowing seeds indoors in flats three to four weeks before the last frost date, 1 to 2 inches apart. Don't allow sunlight to warm the soil above 75 degrees. Space transplants 8 to 12 inches apart. In the garden, you can begin direct sowing successive plantings as soon as the soil can be worked. Sow seeds 1 inch apart and cover with 1/8 inch of fine soil, putting it down as you go. Stop sowing when summer gets under way in earnest; once soil temperatures rise to 70 degrees or so, the seeds are programmed to wait for cool weather to return before germinating. To keep lettuce rows cooler, arrange them to take advantage of shade from taller crops, pole beans, tomatoes, or corn.

HARVESTING HEIRLOOM LETTUCE

Young leaves are the most tender and least apt to be bitter; and by continually picking the young leaves, you discourage plants from bolting as summer temperatures climb. Lettuce is at its best if picked early in the morning, when still cool and dewy from the night, or just before giving it a whirl in the salad spinner at the dinner table.

SAVING HEIRLOOM LETTUCE SEEDS

Because lettuce self-pollinates, you don't have to worry much about errant crossing. Yank any wild lettuces that happen to be lurking on the grounds to avoid their involvement; consult a wildflower field guide to identify them. After the yellow flowers have turned into fluffy, white seed heads, remove the seeds and take them indoors to dry.