How to Harvest Lettuce All Season: Cut & Come Again Method

I love growing lettuce, but nothing is better than harvesting it and tasting the sweet, tender greens throughout the seasons. Enjoying fresh lettuce in salads, wraps, and our other favorite foods is so rewarding. Did you know there's a right and a wrong way to harvest it? Keep reading to learn how to harvest lettuce all season long.

But how do I know when the plants are ready to harvest, and how do I keep lettuce from going to seed so I can harvest delicious lettuce even in the middle of summer? 

No secrets here! Let me tell you how and show you a super simple way to continually harvest and grow lettuce from your garden with a method called cut and come again.

Why I Love This Method

I grow a lot of lettuce. By combining freshly harvested lettuce with simple dressing and complementary ingredients, my family can enjoy a wide range of delicious and healthy meals all season long. 

Whether I am harvesting onions, harvesting carrots, or harvesting lettuce, I love the fresh and personal touch homegrown produce adds to our meals. And since I don’t have to pay steep grocery store prices, I enjoy it that much more!

What is the Cut and Come Again Method

Traditional farming methods would have you grow a lettuce plant and then cut off the whole head at harvest. The cut and come again method allows you to harvest the individual leaves, but allows the plant to continue to grow.

This way, you can keep getting fresh lettuce without killing the plant. As you cut and grow again, cut and grow again, it will continue to produce new leaves until the plant starts to go to seed and becomes a little bitter.

Benefits of Properly Harvesting Lettuce

Believe it or not, the lettuce in this picture was planted in early April and has already been harvested from 6 times! Now ask yourself, how many times do you get a lettuce harvest from your garden?

Here are the benefits of the cut and come again harvesting method:

• Value - This method allows me to grow over $300 worth of lettuce in just 30 square feet each year! That amounts to about $10 of lettuce in every square foot of growing space.

• Efficiency - This method's beauty is that it preserves the crown so the lettuce can keep growing. Using the cut and come again method means you harvest up to six times more lettuce from a single plant than traditional farming.

• Income - I know many of you want to grow food for your family and make a little income on the side. You could easily learn how to grow lettuce and sell cut greens at your local farmer’s market. It would be a great empowerment tool to do what you love while eating from your garden and making some money.

• Less Waste - This method also helps you avoid wasting lettuce because you only pick what you need instead of harvesting all of your lettuce at once. It prevents lettuce from going bad because you can’t eat a huge harvest of lettuce fast enough.

• Higher Quality - The longer lettuce sits in the fridge after harvesting, the more freshness and nutritional content it loses. So again, use this method to harvest only what you need.

• Versatility - You may not realize that you can grow leaf lettuce from ANY type of lettuce! Rather than harvesting the entire head, you can harvest just the leaves, no matter what type of lettuce you are growing.

When to Harvest Lettuce for Continuous Harvest

You can begin harvesting leaf lettuce as soon as the leaves reach the desired size. Lettuce is edible and delicious from the start. You can even harvest lettuce as microgreens.

It takes about 4 weeks to get a first full lettuce harvest. Then, because the plants are established and growing, they can be harvested again about every 2 to 3 weeks.

I harvest lettuce from each plant until it becomes tired or bitter. Ultimately, it is up to you how many harvests you get and when you want to stop harvesting your lettuce because of the reduced quality of taste. Cut off one leaf and do a taste test if you’re unsure if your lettuce is still good.

All lettuce varieties eventually go to seed. You may be surprised to learn that soil temperature is a greater cause for bolting than air temperature. By using high intensity spacing when planting lettuce, you can keep the soil cool, moist, and shaded, extending your growing season.

Once the plants have gone to seed, remove them and put them in your compost pile. Or let them go to seed, collect the lettuce seeds, and save the seeds for future gardens. If you have succession sown lettuce, you can immediately move on and start harvesting the next plot when the first plot becomes bitter.

How to Harvest Lettuce Using the Cut and Come Again Method

When it's time to harvest your lettuce, grab a sharp kitchen knife or sharp scissors , and a large bowl.

1. Grasp the Lettuce - Gather all the leaves from the lettuce plant into your hand and hold them.

2. Cut Off the Leaves - While holding the lettuce leaves, cut the lettuce off about 2 or 3 inches above the crown. Don’t cut the crown, but keep it intact, or you will kill the lettuce plant. Pro-Tip : The crown is the central growing spot where new leaves emerge. It's located in the middle of the plant's base and is surrounded by outer leaves. Leaving the crown intact when harvesting allows the plant to continue producing leaves.

3. Place in Bowl - Put the loose lettuce leaves in the bowl. It is just like packaged loose leaf spring mix from the store!

4. Care - Continue to water and care for the lettuce plants to encourage further growth.

If, for some reason, you want to harvest the entire head, simply cut off the heading lettuce at the base with your sharp knife. That will be the only harvest you get from that lettuce plant.

Now that you know how to harvest lettuce, I really hope you’ll try this method. Cut and come again is a great way to have fresh lettuce all season.