Lovely, Lovely Lettuce
Ruffled, tender, sweet. Fun to dress up. Lettuce is kind of the baby doll of the garden.
Our beds are dotted with heads of frilly leaf lettuces, upright romaines, an heirloom iceberg, and delicate butterheads. I prefer to grow full heads, rather than baby greens, because they look pretty planted in patterns and their mature leaves offer the best of both worlds: a satisfying crunchy base and tender tops.
Lettuce comes in an astounding variety (‘Tom Thumb’, a single serving-sized butterhead, is pictured above). Here’s a round up of my favorites.
‘Forellenschluss’ (also known as ‘Flashy Troutback’) is my absolute favorite lettuce variety. This heirloom has pretty red speckled green leaves and holds up well in heat. One large head easily makes a salad that can serve four and the leaves have a very mild flavor. Planted next to the ‘Forellenschluss’ is a red leaf lettuce that self-sowed in my garden. I’m not sure what the variety is, but if I had to guess I’d say ‘Outredgeous’ or ‘Merlot’ (Just a note on ‘Merlot’. It’s a popular heat-tolerant variety and very pretty, but I think it tastes bad).
The hardware store by my house was selling flats of sweet alyssum for $6 earlier this spring, so I bought a couple and planted it as a border in several of my beds. The little flowers lure in a lot of pollinators and beneficial insects and set off my green and red romaine lettuces nicely.
I discovered this green and red leaf lettuce growing in my path earlier this spring. It apparently self-sowed from the winter salad mix I grew last fall. I have no idea what the variety is, but I love leaf lettuces for their pretty open growth habit. I often pop out and harvest just a few leaves and stuff them into sandwiches at lunchtime.
For those of you who have been following my great iceberg lettuce experiment, I’m happy to report that nice big heads are forming. Hurrah! Despite its name, iceberg lettuce is supposed to handle heat with aplomb. So I’m going to give this head at least another week before I harvest it.
This speckled lettuce looks a lot like ‘Forellenschluss’, but it is a French butterhead variety called ‘Anuenue’. It’s just lovely!
Slugs have devoured my lettuce this spring. They don’t seem to bother the speckled or red varieties much but they went to town on my butter crunch and romaine. What is your strategy for keeping slugs away from your lettuce?
July 1st, 2010 at 1:36 pmLettuce this late in the summer? Wow, where you live is so different from my area. Willi, we’re all into squash, tomatoes, green beans, potatoes and okra now. Oh, and don’t forget corn. I love seeing all your refreshing and cool lettuces. Makes me want to fly up there and have some.~~Dee
July 1st, 2010 at 2:13 pm.-= Dee @ Red Dirt Ramblings´s last blog ..And they’re off- Daylily love at the Regional =-.
Sweet! I do miss lettuce, even though I’m more of a cabbage gal. When you say heat tolerant, what do you mean exactly? Lettuce is grown as an early spring crop here in Tokyo. We harvested the last of ours at the farm by mid-May. It probably could have lasted longer if we’d had a larger crop, but by now it would surely be wilting and bolting. (I’m wilting and thinking about bolting, I must admit.) Thoughts welcome and thanks!
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:38 am.-= Joan Lambert Bailey´s last blog ..Tokyo Garden Update =-.
You grow some beautiful lettuce. It’s is in the 90′s here in Georgia but I am going to TRY and plant some in an all shade flowerbed by the back patio.
I hope if they grow they will only look half as good as yours.
Angie
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:57 am.-= Angie´s last blog ..My desk on my very last day was =-.
I am growing Speckled Trout lettuce this year (I can never ever remember how to spell the F name for it) and just harvested my first head the other day, it was so good! Do you grow it through the summer? I’m not sure when they say it is heat tolerant how much heat it can endure.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:24 am.-= Jaspenelle´s last blog ..this moment as witnessed by Michael =-.
Being in Seattle my garden is also full of lovely tender greens (in July!). I am growing Tom Thumb (from Tilth sale) for the first time this year.. it is so delightful, the cutest little ruffled leaves with a very unique texture, big fan!
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:28 amAndrea’s had the same experience I have – the slug adore my green buttercrunch but have mostly ignored my Red Yugoslavian, Red Buttercrunch, Deer Tongue, and Romaine. I’m not entirely sure if this is because the buttercrunch went into the soil earlier in the year, allowing the slugs to set up house in them where they’re happily staying put. Or, if it is a variety preference. Regardless, I’ve left a few “Buttercrunch traps” in my lettuce beds. These heads withstand the slugs fairly well, with a few outer leaves given up for the greater good of the rest. So far, later planted, different varieties remain untouched.
Anyone know why/if slugs don’t go for some varieties while they devour others?
Good reminder – I have another round of lettuce seedlings in the greenhouse that need to be cycled into the garden. It’s so cool and moist I’m hoping I can time tomato ripening with late season lettuce harvesting!
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:30 am.-= gardenmentor´s last blog ..Lettuce Basil – Perfect for Sandwiches =-.
My alyssum re-seeds itself every year. I’m gradually spreading it throughout my garden too.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:10 amHey Willi,
I am growing sugar snap peas for the first time and they are really coming in! But when are they ready to be picked? I’m not sure. They look ready but the don’t come off the vine easily like tomatoes when they are ready. Just curious as I don’t want to harvest them too early but I don’t want them to go bad either.
I love reading your blog! I find it very inspirational from one WS gardener to another!
July 4th, 2010 at 10:07 amWhat a wonderful surprise it is to find self-seeding vegetables vicariously found amongst your garden! I have a tomato plant (and because I only use Heirlooms, I’m pretty sure, though not certain, that it will bear fruit) that we just found amongst a bed of eggplants! Yay for garden surprises!
July 5th, 2010 at 10:10 am.-= Roberta´s last blog ..How To Make Kombucha =-.