Total gardening newbie - protecting lettuce?

[Storm Bride]

Okay - I planted a whole bunch of veggies today. This is really more in the nature of an experiment than anything else. Even if we get a decent yield on most of it, I probably spent more on the plants than I would have to buy veggies at the grocery store, but I want the kids to have a chance to do some gardening and just dig around in the dirt.

So, I put in five lettuce plants. Last year, I threw in a handful of plants right at the end of the season (bought them on clearance) and everything either died almost immediately (too dried up and dehydrated to even survive being moved out of the little pots they'd been in for too long) or got eaten by pests. My lettuces were eaten really, really quickly. So...what are some tips for protecting lettuces? I'm pretty sure they got eaten by cabbage moth caterpillars, but not 100% sure.

[JamieCatheryn]

Sesame or neem oils or soaps can deter a lot of plant eater bugs. Most big garden centers sell organic insecticides and repellants. Myself I just plant a whole lot of seeds and eat what doesn't get eaten by something else, lettuces grow well from seed. In hot weather they like partial shade and lots of watering...but you guys top out at like 70F there so lettuce should thrive all season.

[Storm Bride]

The weather here is really unpredictable this year (summer really hasn't started - looked like it had for a few days, but we have cool temperatures, some wind, and probably rain today), which is one of the reasons I just kind of went "whatever" and stuck random plants in the ground. It does get hotter than 70F, but has only done so for one or two days this year. I think the highest it gets around here is about 90F or so, for a few days at some point in the summer...although it topped 100 on my front porch two years ago.

I'll try the oils. My biggest concerns are snails and slugs, as we have a lot of both around here.

[shaywyn]

Diatomaceous earth is really good for snails and slugs and you don't have to put it directly on the plant, although you can. Sprinkle a circle of it around the base of the plant. You'll have to reapply after rain or watering. Some people swear by the beer method (fill a shallow bowl with beer, nestle it in a hole deep enough to bring the lip of the bowl to soil level, and the slugs will crawl in and die), but I have not had a lot of success with that method. You can also place a board or pile of newspapers on the ground in the evening near the plants and pick it up in the morning. If you have some slugs congregated underneath (and you probably will, also earwigs, which get into your plants, too), you can dispatch them however you desire.

Good Luck!