GREEN-FINGERED gardeners are growing their own lettuce after bad weather in Europe has caused a shortage.

Customers have found some supermarkets have no lettuce on their shelves and the price of the vegetable has pushed up the price.

Bosses at Cardwell Garden Centre have reported that lettuce seeds have been flying off the shelves.

Cardwell horticulturist Brian Hawthorn says the lettuce shortage is just the tip of the iceberg, as courgettes are also in short supply after unusually cold weather in normally warm Mediterranean countries devastated the harvest of these vegetables.

Brian says: “In all my years working as a horticulturist I’ve never known so many people coming into the garden centre asking how they can grow their own lettuce and courgettes.

“Normally, we have our regular clientele of gardening enthusiasts who grow their own veg, but this year we’ve seen lots of lapsed gardeners come back to start planting vegetables again. Our sales of all the different kind of lettuce seeds has almost doubled and we’ve had to order in extra supplies.”

Brian explained that you can grow lettuce – mainly the loose leaf variety – indoors, as long as the seeds are kept at a window for light and are protected from frost.

And from next month, other lettuce varieties such as Iceberg and Butterhead can be planted outdoors.

Brian also says that you can grow a lettuce from seed to the leaves being ready to pick and eat in only 25 days.

He added: “I’d encourage people to grow their own lettuce, courgettes and other vegetables, as it’s quite easy and anyway, home-grown veg always tastes better.”