Lettuce

Advantages: Easy to grow, many varieties available, tasty addition to sandwiches and salads
Disadvantages: None

...the most nutritious form of lettuce and may also be used for cut-and-come-again seedling crops. Lettuces vary from 10cm (4in) to over 30cm (12in) in spread. The cos types are about 25cm (10in) tall, others about 15cm (6in) high. Lettuces are primarily used as salad vegetables, but outer and older leaves may also be cooked or used in soups. Lettuces are cool-season crops, growing best at 10 - 20 degrees celsius (50 - 68 degrees fahrenheit). Cool ...
...earlier. Most types of lettuce may be grown as cut-and-come-again seedling crops, especially loose-leaf types, including the traditional European "cutting" cultivars, and some cos types. --------------------------------------------------------------- RECOMMENDED LETTUCES --------------------------------------------------------------- COS Lobjoits Green Cos Valmaine Winter Density SEMI-COS Bubbles Jewel Little Gem BUTTERHEAD Avondefiance ... Read review

Advantages: Fresh all the year round
Disadvantages: You may have to get your fingers dirty

...There is a lettuce for every location, in every season. Lettuce will grow in conventional garden soil. Aspen states the obvious. Lettuce will also grow in a gro-bag, or in a pot, on any soil-based or soil-less compost. Lettuce will grow in a tub on the patio, in a pot by the back door, in a window-box, on a balcony, on a roof-garden, or even on the lavvie window-sill. If you have none of these, you are an alien, and don’t deserve lettuce. Cos ...
...are. Want to grow lettuce out of season? Got a bright windowsill? Try Little Gem (a small Cos variety) at any time of year. Use young. The small young leaves are the tastiest anyway, and they may not heart in the winter months. Who cares? Use the young leaves and sow some more. It’s gotta be better than the limp, chemically-preserved supermarket pre-washed, bagged leaves. Fancy a bit of colour? The red-tinged Lolla Rosso which you pay premium prices ... Read review

Advantages: salad days are nearly here
Disadvantages: Slugs may eat mine first

Lettuce let me brag and be big headed I usually do not buy a single lettuce from the shop after May. I usually successfully grow more than ample even giving some away. Let me not mislead you my garden is not massive. I think it is wonderful others might not. T hey might come and cut my meadow, spray it with pesticide grow things in straight lines. Not my kind of gardening. Anyway back to lettuce I sowed some lettuce seeds in the greenhouse last ...
...it is not a hearting lettuce you just pick the individual leaves and takes a long time to go to seed. Excellent if you only want a leaf or two to add to a sandwich. I do grow other kinds of lettuce to ring the changes I also grow winter density a cos type lettuce and sometimes little gem the little gem is not so good went to seed quickly. Did you know lettuce cooked with peas and thyme tastes wonderful? Does anyone know a good lettuce soup in case ... Read review

Advantages: Fresh salad leaves for 6 months.
Disadvantages: None

...spicy leaves with a mix of red and green colours. Green salad leaves contain some vitamin c, iron and zinc which we all need as part of a healthy diet and virtually no calories so we can eat as much as we like so long as we go light on the dressings! One bowl full of leaves counts as one of the five recommended portions of fruit and veg although I'm not sure I eat quite that much in one sitting. Catalogne is a large, brilliant green, oak leaf shaped lettuce with a delicate, nutty taste. Cocarde is a red oak leaf shaped lettuce with a sweet taste. Lollo Rossa has a red frilly leaf which is sweet and slightly mustardy. Grand Rapids is light green, wide leafed with frilly curled edges, with a mild, sweet crisp taste. Rossa di Trento has broad green leaves fringed with red. It is a crisp and sweet lettuce. Red Salad Bowl has a red... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Cute, funny companions. Cheap!
Disadvantages: Can bite, smelly if not cleaned out for a long time.

...and veg). Never EVER feed hamsters the following fresh foods: -Any citrus fruit (lemon, orange, lime) -Onions -Hot peppers/chilli's -Lots of chocolate (they can handle a tiny piece...otherwise it gets stuck in their cheek pouches) -Possibly radishes...not sure how they'd get on with them. -Loads of lettuce...they can get diahorrhea Good fresh foods: -Cucumber (lots of water) -Apple -A little lettuce -Tomato -Carrot -Green beans (haricot, runner) -Grapes. You can feed your hamster a TINY bit of meat (ham, chicken etc.) but don't do this often or give them too much because they can get the taste for it and may start thinking your fingers are meat and trying to eat them too. P.S- Don't be alarmed when your hamster eats his poo. They don't always digest their food properly the first time round so they recycle. This won... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: easy to keep, contained, longliving
Disadvantages: can be smelly, can be violent - all preventable if maintained well though

...Rabbits are so lovely to look at that it almost seems wrong to keep one as a pet. So peaceful and serene, although this may be because they cannot speak or make much noise! lol We bought the rabbit we chose because she was the only one alone in her pen when we went to the shop and looked bored. We bought the biggest indoor cage we could as we wanted a house rabbit rather than one being forgotten about outside. Overall, we paid about £70 for everything, including bowls, bedding, food etc. They are bed on sawdust shavings, and fed on hay. Both are easily available but can be costly, especially around summer when the supply isnt too heavy as in winter time. Food must be rabbit food, rather than guinea etc so that they get all the vitamins they need. They should also be fed some greens for variety although iceberg lettuce can... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful