Hi! I'm Dave Epstein. This is Growing Wisdom. We’re talking today lettuce for Thanksgiving. You might think lettuce for Thanksgiving? I'm going to go buy it at the store. No! You’re actually going to grow it this year. You can plant things in the fall.

A lot of folks, we plant lettuce and some of the cooler weather crops in the spring and you know about that. But the fall, it's a similar type of environment. The days are cool. The soil is fairly warm. One of the difference is, is that we have less and less daylight each day. Also, temperatures are turning cooler rather than warmer. However, some plants respond well to that like some of the greens. So, we’ve put them into just some pots. And the pots are a great way to grow those greens. Here, I've got some Encore. This is Johnny’s Selected Seed Mix. There is Spectrum, also a Johnny’s Mix.

And up top above me, I've got some carrots going. These will start to mature late October, early November, until the later half of November. So, when it comes time for Thanksgiving, I'm going to be pulling some fresh lettuce and mixing it in with the greens fro my Thanksgiving table. Growing greens in containers is a great way to push that season, extend the season. Also, if gets real cold early, I can bring these inside. Put them on the kitchen floor during the night. Put them back outside during the day or I can throw a cloth or some row cover over this. And that will also help protect it from the frost.

You'll be surprised how long this can grow. You'll also surprise your friends with fresh lettuce for the thanksgiving holiday. Come back every week for all of our tips and some help here at Growing Wisdom.