How to Remove Romaine Lettuce From the Ground

Harvest romaine lettuce from your garden as you need the leaves for salads or other dishes.

Pick just the leaves from the plant to make enough for a salad. Snip off the outer leaves, working in with a pair of clean, sharp garden shears or scissors. Harvest only crisp green romaine lettuce leaves with no signs of wilt or rot.

Cut the entire plant just above the soil line with a pair of sharp garden shears or scissors, if you wish to harvest an entire head. Pick just as the heads start to close; waiting longer may result in the lettuce bolting. Cut every other plant to give the remaining plants more space to grow.

Position a shovel around the outside of the plant and push it into the ground to remove the entire lettuce plant, including its roots. Keep pushing the shovel into the soil underneath the plant until it starts to lift from the ground.