Still Life with Buddha and Lettuce

In the Buddha's corner of the garden some newly planted Red Sails summer lettuce seedlings are resting quietly in their impromptu shade house -- a quick construction of bamboo stakes stuck into the dirt with an old lace curtain draped overhead.


The metal grid is to keep the cats out. All sentient beings have their place in the grand scheme of things, of course, but if the salad-loving beings are to have their salads there has to be gopher wire at the bottom of the basket, cat grids on top, and sun protection overhead. A lettuce fortress.





The sun-shade method also works on a slightly larger scale. Here is a three-foot square Grow Bed also planted in Red Sails and covered in lace. No gopher underwiring and no cat grids, though.








Planting history
Variety: Red Sails
Source: Botanical Interests Seeds
Seeds planted: June 14, 2009
Seedlings planted out: July 4 and 5, 2009