In May, I say goodbye to spinach and transition to Buttercrunch lettuce. I allow my tastes and the maturity of the plants to dictate this transition. I also continue establishing a new lettuce plot every three weeks.

It seems odd to watch the winter garden reach the end of its harvest. The plants have been producing delicious spinach for months, but now, the conspiracy of warmth, length of daylight, and age shock the plants into bolting to try to make seed before they die. It is especially odd since all the rest of the plants in the garden are in their youth with promises of bountiful harvests just ahead.

The final act of the garden year for the winter garden is to prepare the soil for planting in September and then cover it to keep it as cool as possible through the hot summer just ahead.

Protecting the lettuce plantings and nurturing their growth occupies my time in May. At the beginning of the month, the lettuce gets a light dusting of fertilizer.

I harvest lettuce just as I did spinach. I take the large, outer leaves and leave the small, central leaves to grow larger. I also don't allow older plants to remaining the garden.

As successive lettuce plots reach maturity, I abandon older plantings, harvest all the remaining plants by cutting them at the base of the plant, and give them away. I want them out of my garden because they harbor insects that eat my plants. If I'm only harvesting from young plants that are growing vigorously, and if I'm taking the older leaves, then I can stay ahead of the bugs. I follow this practice until all the spring and early summer plantings are exhausted. I do not follow this practice with my fall lettuce.

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