Lettuce will easily go to seed in the first year. I like to plant a "summer lettuce mix". I let a few of the most favored varieties go to seed. Then, I either harvest the stalks and let them dry, (I have a pillow case dedicated to threshing the seeds into) or leave them in place, or pull them and lay them where I want next spring's early lettuce crop to be. It's so much fun to poke around in the garden in the spring, and see all of this stuff coming up on it's own with very little help from me! Calendula and nasturtium are 2 of my favorite garden flowers b/c they so readily self sow. But, not so much when the chickens clean up the garden! I have to save seeds now, in order to have them back the next year. Chickens LOVE calendula seeds. I'm now allowing myself the pleasure of growing flowers that I'd never grow before b/c of their propensity to become weeds! Never a dull moment for us gardeners who are so easily amused.
