Types of lettuce...

I am planting lettuce in my garden. I know I want to plant Butterhead or Boston Bibb, but what are some other varieties that will provide mixed greens?

I plant romaine, bibb, and a Gourmet Blend. The gourmet blend is a mix of 5 different varieties...Prizeleaf, Royal Oak Leaf, Salad Bowl, Red Salad Bowl and Ashley. Looks like this...

My standard is Black seeded Simpson & a mesclun mix.

I usually go for four pretty popular types with a good array of colors and textures.

Simpson Elite, Romaine, Red Sails, Bibb.

Pic from the fall although its almost the same for this spring.



Love 'em !!!

There are so many to choose from out there. Try lots of different ones and report back please

Ok. I want a salad. That pic gives new meaning to "fresh". So let me ask you this, do you plant a different seed for each type of lettuce? For example, in two squares, I could plant four different types of lettuce in each square (Bibb, Romaine, Gourmet, and Simpson Elite)?

As long as you're planting all leaf or all head lettuce in a square, I can't see why you can't mix it up and grow multiple varieties in one square. That way you can keep the spacing consistent.

buttaflie143 wrote:Ok. I want a salad. That pic gives new meaning to "fresh". So let me ask you this, do you plant a different seed for each type of lettuce? For example, in two squares, I could plant four different types of lettuce in each square (Bibb, Romaine, Gourmet, and Simpson Elite)?

That's a great way to stagger your planting! Great idea!

I think you'll have more fun planting your own mix. I don't care for a package mix because I never know for sure what's what. OK, so maybe I'm slow on the git go about that stuff, but I prefer studying the seed catalogs to try new stuff.

For instance, how could I resist trying Drunken Woman Frizzy Headed Lettuce? It's tasty, pretty, slow to bolt, and didn't get bitter last year.

I like a fine Merlot to add a little color. I like a little Nevada for it's cash green boldness. And you can't go wrong with Red Sails. Throw in some spinach, and you've got one satisfying salad.

If space is limited, you could plant just half a square at a time, every weekend maybe. Lettuces do germinate and mature at different rates. Don't try to master a timeline this year, just stick some in the ground, and enjoy what your garden gives you.

My hands down favorite is Simpson's Elite. That stuff just refuses to bolt. And, I am very pleased with Buttercrunch (thanks again, Ander, wherever you are) so far. I am really enjoying Vivian Romaine, too.

I'm not a head lettuce guy because my leaf lettuces just recharge time and time again. So, I stay within that variety of lettuces. Salad Bowl isn't bad. And, I can't wait to get a good crop of Red Sails....I have some duddies this year. I must have planted 30+ seeds and I have two plants to show for it.

boffer wrote:... just stick some in the ground, and enjoy what your garden gives you.

Thats really the only plan I have at this point!!!

@ Staf74 and Boffer is Drunken Woman Frizzy Headed Lettuce real?

http://www.territorialseed.com/product/5562/s

I went overboard growing lettuce this spring. I ate it every day, gave it away and still had a lot bolt and end up in compost. This photo is several weeks old, but I wanted to share in this thread.

I planted these head lettuces 6 weeks before first frost. (clockwise from the Broccoli) Bibb, Green Deer Tougue, Red Deer Tongue, Amish Speckled and Arugula.

One of my new routines is to plant a square EACH WEEK (in spring sofar) with a mini row of Black seeded simpson, radishes, and arugula.

Squat_Johnson wrote:

One of my new routines is to plant a square EACH WEEK (in spring sofar) with a mini row of Black seeded simpson, radishes, and arugula.

+1. I have to start planting lettuce in a more shaded area as we are coming into full summer soon.

Squat_Johnson wrote:I went overboard growing lettuce this spring. I ate it every day, gave it away and still had a lot bolt and end up in compost. This photo is several weeks old, but I wanted to share in this thread.

I planted these head lettuces 6 weeks before first frost. (clockwise from the Broccoli) Bibb, Green Deer Tougue, Red Deer Tongue, Amish Speckled and Arugula.

One of my new routines is to plant a square EACH WEEK (in spring sofar) with a mini row of Black seeded simpson, radishes, and arugula.

Was yours grown in a SFG? 1 plant per square? They look great!!
Jo

You need a guinea pig. Mine eat all my kitchen veggie trimmings and a head of lettuce every day!

@ Jo - yes, SFG, 4 or 5 lettuce heads to a square. You can see a couple of pics here: https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t6089-moles-voles-and-holes

@ Mamachibi - As you can see from the above link, I don't get along with rodents.

Aw, cavies aren't just rodents, they're...cute rodents!

boffer wrote:http://www.territorialseed.com/product/5562/s

Leave it to you to find this, Boffer! Gotsta hasta gets me somes!

Totally worth the cost of the seeds just to be able to ask dinner guests "Would you care for some Drunken Woman Frizzy Headed Lettuce Salad?"

sherryeo wrote:Totally worth the cost of the seeds just to be able to ask dinner guests "Would you care for some Drunken Woman Frizzy Headed Lettuce Salad?"

Even better to serve it along with Bloody Butcher tomatoes! Unless you think she would prefer Radiator Charlie's tomatoes!

It's become one of my mainstays. Last year, it was growing all summer and never bolted or became bitter.

Yea, Boff. I think the Bloody Butcher Tomatoes would be the perfect icing on the cake...er...salad. I can just picture the dinner guests, in their cars, squealing out of the driveway!

I am in the process of ordering my lettuce seeds and found this thread. Lot's of good stuff here, so I thought I would revive it for others to reference too

There are a lot of premixed mixes out there. Simplest ones are spicy mesclun mix and mild mesclun mix. This is what they call spring mix in the grocery.

Johnny's had about 50 different mixes in their last catalog...

I started growing one of those mesclun mixes in containers on my balcony, cause the stuff was so darned expensive. A bunch of random stuff, but I could just snip several things and have at it.

However, over time, I figured out which bits I like... that I adore the particular bitterness that is radicchio, that corn salad is tender and sweet, but I can't stand arugula...

So I grow specific lettuces now. Buttercrunch is my standard, and I like it better than anything else. I've grown it under grow lights in my house to have it all winter in the past! I like Little Gem and Deer Tongue also. And radicchio and corn salad of course. I'm trying purslane this year, we'll see how that works out.

Growing the old stand by Black Seeded Simpson since it is so slow to bolt also green salad bowl. Since I love butter bib I am going to try Tom Thumb it's tiny relitive this year too just waiting for the seeds to arrive.