If stews, pies and soups make you think of winter. Then surely salads are a symbol of summer. And while there are plenty of vegetables like carrots, beans and beetroot that make great salads, lettuce would have to be my favourite salad ingredient.

Cos lettuce makes a great Caesar salad. Great lakes or iceberg work well combined with cucumber and tomato in a classic lettuce dish. Mesclun, pear and Parmesan create a tasty blend. The list of lettuces available at Awapuni and the various types of salads you can create goes on!

For those who like to have a range of difference lettuces on hand, try growing our hearting bundle which contains red lettuce, buttercrunch, greatlakes and cos. Otherwise simply select from the eight other types of lettuce (including chinese) we have available.

Order your Awapuni seedlings from our online shop and have them delivered direct to your door. Alternatively, grab a bundle when you're next at your local supermarket or Bunnings.

Once you've got your lettuce plants look for a well-drained and sheltered spot in the garden to grow them. Don't have much space? Lettuces grow great in pots and can be placed in a spot easily accessible to your kitchen.

Next simply dig a little hole and plant each seedling around 20cm apart. Try not to overcrowd your seedlings to prevent fungal diseases. And watch out for slugs.

Lots of people often tell me that they have problems with these pesky slimy customers. Which is when I shout - beer bait! I mention it all the time and that's because it works (mostly!).

Simply, cut the top off an empty fizzy drink bottle, leaving approximately 10cm of plastic from the lid. Make sure the lid is tightly screwed on.

Make a hole next to your lettuces large enough for the whole bottle neck to fit into. The open end of your plastic bottle should sit almost parallel with the soil.

Place three sticks approximately 15cm in height around your plastic bottle in the shape of a teepee.

Fill your bottle up to the halfway mark with beer (slugs aren't fussy about the type of beer, but kids make sure you ask your parents first!).

To ensure that the beer is protected from rain, take the discarded end of your plastic fizzy drink bottle and cut off a section approximately 5cm from the end.

Balance this section on the three sticks you staked earlier. This will create a lid to protect the beer against rain.

Now all you have to do is sit back and wait. Overnight the slugs will slide their way into the beer. And don't just stop with one beer bait bottle, make several and place them around your slug susceptible veges. Believe me you'll be amazed by the results.

Depending on the weather where you live your lettuces should be ready to harvest in around four to eight weeks. Remember, you can simply pick the leaves off as you need them. Got kids? This is a great job for them to be in charge of at dinnertime. And, they get to pick the type of lettuce they like best.

Just remember lettuces like water. Simply put your finger in the ground up to around the first knuckle and if it feels dry you need to add some water.