lettuce seedlings

The baby Lettuce are already too leggy. The seedling leaves should be flush with the soil, not on these searching stalks. I know they won't mind the cold too much; I've put the trays into that old plastic cover and set outside. Even on an overcast winter day they seem to get better light out there than indoors under my lamps (I don't have real grow-lights yet). Just have to bring them in at night until they get bigger.

The second set of trays I started has just begun to sprout. I was kind of surprised that the four-year-old store-bought seed I planted sprouted in one day and the two-year-old saved seed I planted took three or four days. I guess my saved seed isn't quite as vigorous as the original it came from. Or perhaps the older seed is just that much more eager to grow, after being in cold storage for so long...