Lettuce, Carrots, and Scallions

This evening we put in a patch of salad lettuce (Mesclun). Rowan helped as we turned over a small patch of soil, raked it smooth, and sowed the seed into 3 drills about 8" apart. In the past we've always just spread it on top of the bed to create a lettuce "patch." This year I'd like plant a new row every couple weeks to always have fresh salad greens. I'll also construct a shade-cloth tent structure to keep the plants cool in July. In a few weeks I'll plant the head lettuce we started from seed last weekend.

We also put in some carrots (Nantes). Carrots seem to take forever before harvesting, so I was never willing to waste the garden space on them. But this year Burpee's had these seeded strips that you bury. I was curious so we bought a packet that had two 8' strips, and it won't take up too much space in the garden.

I've been wanting to try spring onions (scallions) for a long time. I remember it being a staple in my folk's garden. So we planted a small section which hopefully we can harvest sometime in June. In preparing the soil bed, I noticed a lot of ants. Last year a colony of ants made off with nearly every lettuce seed I sowed in a single day. I read that spreading cornmeal with the seed will help -- not sure if it kills the ants or just distracts them. I was generous with the cornmeal.