Since lettuce will probably be the first crop you will harvest – and most of us love salads – go for it. We have been eating salads most days from the garden planted a month or so a go.

The lettuce that we see today is actually a weed. Wild lettuce, one of the oldest food plants known to man, was discovered in the Mediterranean basin more than 4,000 years ago.

It was a favorite vegetable in ancient Rome. In fact, the word “lettuce” is derived from the Latin root word “lac,” meaning “milk,” referring to the milky juice found in mature lettuce stems.

Our early colonists inc...