Lettuce can be funny

I think I have mentioned how I have been planning a very modest food garden. Did I also tell you that I have only ever planted flowers and herbs from pots in my life? And that I have never successfully started something from seed [and only tried once]?

Anyway, in order to make my attempt small and manageable, thereby increasing the chance I will actually do it, the only things I have planned to start from seed are the ones that can be sown outside and are known to be dead easy. Like say, lettuce.

So yesterday I prepped a small area of the garden for planting. Then I was ready to put in some easy bean seeds and bibb lettuce. I read the packages. For the beans: plant 1" deep, 2" apart, yadda yadda. Very clear. For the lettuce: plant 18" deep. My reading screeched to a halt. I get stronger magnifying glasses, yes it says 18". Huh. Can that be right? Then I remember I have no knowledge about planting lettuce so maybe it is. I know it likes cool weather. I check the package several more times. I go outside and start digging a trench thinking things like: 'well I'll go down 6-8" inches only" "I remember hearing about how peas are trenched" "surely there is a typo on the package" "I am so going to look this up on the internets later" and finally. "this cannot be right" I pick up the package one more time and I see next to 18" (3mm).

Ok I am not a child of the metric system but I know that 18 inches does not equal 3 millimeters. I then realize that the package must say [or meant to say] is 1/8" whether I can see the slash or not. I fill in the mini trench laughing and put the seeds underneath a tiny bit of earth [3mm]. We'll see what happens in 7-10 days. Please cross your green thumbs.