![]() Plant seeds in the garden as early as 4 to 6 weeks before the average date of last frost, or begin plants indoors earlier to set out 2 to 4 weeks before last frost. Lettuce is a hardy, fast growing annual that does best in cool weather – spring and fall in Wisconsin. Lettuce is a fast-growing, cool season annual. It can even be grown in containers, or used as an ornamental in borders or flower gardens. ![]() It doesn’t require a lot of space, doesn’t need to be started indoors (although you can do that to get an even earlier harvest), and doesn’t have too many pests or diseases. Lettuce is one of the easiest, fastest and earliest crops for the home gardener. They are sometimes called “cutting”, “bunching,” or “curled” lettuce. These vary in texture from soft to crisp and run the gamut from pale green to dark red. Individual leaves can be cut off as needed without harvesting the entire plant. The leaves may be rounded or elongated, lobed or with straight margins, and flat or curled. Leaf types do not form a head, but stay as an open rosette. Romaine or cos (after the Greek island of Kos in the Aegean Sea) types form a long, loose head with broad, upright leaves. Batavia or Batavian is a crisphead developed in France that is curlier and less crunchy.īutterhead or bibb lettuces produce loose, gently folded heads with delicate leaves. There are four basic types of lettuce commonly available today:Ĭrisphead lettuce (the iceberg found in grocery stores) forms a tight head under the appropriate conditions and very crisp leaves. The heading lettuces were only developed in the 1700’s and the common iceberg lettuce became popular just before the second World War. Lettuce seeds were brought to North America in the 1600’s from England. The major lettuce types were available in Europe by the Middle Ages. Traits such as decreased bitter latex, fewer or no spines, increased head size and delayed flowering were selected for to create edible lettuce. The Emperor Caesar Augustus even had a statute made memorializing the romaine-type lettuce he believed cured him from an illness. Some reports point back as far as the Egyptians in 4500 BC but it was certainly cultivated by ancient Greeks and Romans. serriola), a wild plant around the Mediterranean and Caucasus regions which was used as a medicinal herb. Lettuce ( Lactuca sativa) is one of the oldest known vegetables, developed from prickly lettuce ( L. There are many different types of lettuce. Not only do you have more choices if you grow your own but your salads will be fresher, maybe less expensive – and there’s just something more satisfying about eating something you’ve produced yourself. There are hundreds of varieties to choose from, providing a wide range of sizes, colors, textures and tastes. The selection of lettuce in supermarkets is better these days than it used to be but it still can’t compare to the wide assortment of varieties available in seed catalogs. It’s easy to grow greens for a fresh salad.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |