My first sowing of lettuce grew to be a rewarding first crop. From a couple of June sowings and a slow start, they did well through the dry, cool weather and provided more salad than we could use.
I got three types for Winter sowing; Australian Yellow, Lollo Rosso, and Marvel of Four Seasons, all from Eden Seeds. The idea was to get a variety of shape and colour to mix in a salad, and it worked well, although I reckon you could mix any 3 different types from the catalogue and the salad would look and taste great. The Lollo Rosso is red and very crinkled, Marvel of Four Seasons has red edges grading to green bases, and the ‘Yellow’ is actually a light, bright green foil, at least to my eye.
The ones in the photo above were thinned from a bed which was nutrient poor, so progressing slowly, but they showed how well planting in seedbeds works for lettuce. They took off very quickly in the new bed, which had been dug over and left to sit for a few weeks before transplanting.
Looseleaf and head lettuce
I selected the seeds as ‘looseleaf’ varieties that you can pick individual leaves from, rather than the whole head, but actually when you have a few dozen plants it’s easier to just take the whole head anyway. Now I’ve got a few dozen plants going to flower with the warm Spring weather, and will have to pull them all to prepare the bed for a new planting. After container gardening in the city where you only pick what you need that day and make the most of a few plants, there are a few things I have to re-train myself for. There’s still no waste as any discarded leaves can always go to the chickens.
For the warmer seasons I have sown two new varieties; Salad Bowl Green and Salad Bowl Red. With the promise of some rain (finally!) this week, I will sow another seedbed to get a second lot in, maybe with another sowing of ‘Marvel of Four Seasons’.