Your Favorite Lettuce
 

Now that we are getting ready for growing fantastic tomatoes what are your favorite lettuces for a salad ?

Leaf lettuce does better as summer can sneak up on you before head lettuce is ready. Black Seeded Simpson is one commonly grown here.

- Lisa

I like any of the butter head lettuces along with the Boston types and Romain lettuce.
Worth

We grow a lot of buttercrunch and bronze arrowhead (aka bronze beauty). Both are tasty and prolific.

[QUOTE=greenthumbomaha;518222]Now that we are getting ready for growing fantastic tomatoes what are your favorite lettuces for a salad ?

Leaf lettuce does better as summer can sneak up on you before head lettuce is ready. Black Seeded Simpson is one commonly grown here.

- Lisa[/QUOTE]

My favorite is butter head. . I have grown it few times.
it is similar to Boston Lettuce I like them tender with color. I always throw away the center vein and just use the tender pat. The I slice tomatoes and cukes very thin, to match the texture.

My least favorite is head lettuce. I have never bought one myself. It has no flavor.

Gardeneer

I like a green leaf variety called Green Ice.

Cole Robbie, if this does well for you in IL I should try it in southern WI. How deep into summer do you grow it and how does the flavor hold up?

We bought some called, Black Seeded Simpson, Slo Bolt, and Little Gem. It looks like enough seed to plant half the county. I like just about any lettuce. With infused oil / vinaigrettes, dry, or several of the popular bottle ones. Did you know French dressing is made with tomatoes as a major ingredient?

Lollo Bionda and Sweetie Baby are my two favorites.

Les Orielles de diables
Forellenschluss
Nevada
Jericho
Outredgous

take a look at wildgardenseeds for some good ideas. [url]http://www.wildgardenseed.com/[/url]

This last year I grew Pirat, a butterhead from High Mowing Seeds. It did very well here in southeastern Wisconsin...delicious, absolutely beautiful, picture perfect. I also grow Winter Density, a Romaine as well as some lettuce.mixes

I really like Tokyo Bekana. It's not a lettuce, but rather a type of chinese cabbage. It grows fast and has a really mild flavor-- you wouldn't guess it wasn't lettuce. I pick a whole bunch, wash and spin it, then we chop and eat it all week. Keeps well.

Sample Seed Shop sells it.

I love interesting heirloom lettuces, merlot and Lolita are two beauties I got from Tatianas. Cimmaron is a great heirloom red cos or romaine lettuce, easy to grow. Oak leaf varieties are slow to bolt and interesting. Have a look at Tatianas selection of heirloom lettuces. Just beautiful. I really love unusual varieties and my lettuces are some of the most commented on things I grow in my community plot.
Karen O

I’m quite disappointed by the different kinds of lettuce that can be bought in supermarkets. They can be as big as cabbages but tasteless and can be kept only 2 or 3 days before rotting. I only grow traditional varieties that have a nice taste in the mouth when you chew a leaf. You can keep them in the fridge for a week. When I read the posts of this thread I’m relieved to see I’m not the only one to trust old varieties.

Paris White (a Romaine) and Sylvia (red leaf)

[QUOTE=Fusion_power;518249]take a look at wildgardenseeds for some good ideas. [URL]http://www.wildgardenseed.com/[/URL][/QUOTE]

+1 Frank Morton, the owner of Wild Garden Seed, is a super talented breeder of lettuces and many other things. He lists 100 lettuce varieties, and offers some really great seed mixes from works in progress. :yes:

Nevada, tolerates heat well into June, cut and come again, pull the plant or harvest individual leaves. It has a softer texture than romaine but is still crisp and tastes great.

[QUOTE=PhilaGardener;518269]+1 Frank Morton, the owner of Wild Garden Seed, is a super talented breeder of lettuces and many other things. He lists 100 lettuce varieties, and offers some really great seed mixes from works in progress. :yes:[/QUOTE]

With two TVille recommendations for him and his lettuce, I'll have to order some this year. I've surfed his site before and was quite impressed with what he does.

I second the Jericho (romaine), Nevada (batavian type), and Pirat (butterhead). They can take the heat. Also Two Star (green leaf lettuce) and Galactic (deep red glossy leaf lettuce). And of course Little Gem and Tom Thumb. I also grow a mesclun mix just for fun.

For heat I like Sierra. I was able to grow it all summer long. For cooler temps Little Gem (aka Sucrine) is my favorite.

[QUOTE=jmsieglaff;518231]Cole Robbie, if this does well for you in IL I should try it in southern WI. How deep into summer do you grow it and how does the flavor hold up?[/QUOTE]

It's a spring crop for me. It also does well in containers.

I've had market customers recommend Nevada as a heat-tolerant lettuce.

I grow Nevada as well. Never bolted for me and tastes great.

[QUOTE=Fusion_power;518249]Les Orielles de diables
Forellenschluss
Nevada
Jericho
Outredgous

take a look at wildgardenseeds for some good ideas. [URL]http://www.wildgardenseed.com/[/URL][/QUOTE]


A BIG thanks for the link, Darrel.

:roll:Since you're the one who now has set my seed swap back a few hours, others know who to blame.;)

My gardening buddy down the road grows nothing but Nevada. She loves it, and claims that it is both heat and cold tolerant. She gave us a lettuce to try in the summer and it was very good. I'll be growing it next year!

Linda

This thread tempting me to grow some lettuce coming spring.
We have perfect weather for lettuce, except for the slugs. They LUve lettuce. hehe

Your Favorite Lettuce
 

[QUOTE=Gardeneer;518384]This thread tempting me to grow some lettuce coming spring.
We have perfect weather for lettuce, except for the slugs. They LUve lettuce. hehe[/QUOTE]


If you can find a way to deal with the slugs, lettuce is very much worth growing. Aside from the fact that it'll be so much better than store bought, for the cost of one head of lettuce, you can buy a pack of 500+ seeds. It's easy to grow, takes little space, and grows very quickly.

I grew some of the most beautiful bug free pesticide free high dollar butter head lettuce one year and I couldn't give it away.
It seems as all anyone here wanted or was familiar with was iceberg head lettuce.

What a darn shame.:(

Worth

[QUOTE=Worth1;518397]I grew some of the most beautiful bug free pesticide free high dollar butter head lettuce one year and I couldn't give it away.
It seems as all anyone here wanted or was familiar with was iceberg head lettuce.

What a darn shame.:(

Worth[/QUOTE]

Even iceberg -type head lettuce is easy to grow, just needs a head start in flats or cells. I can grow it up here, it grows fast into beautiful greener and a bit looser than grocery store iceberg heads and tastes about 100 x better. (The difference between a grocery store tomato and a home grown one better).
really, really good in my garden.
KO

I've never really tried to grow lettuce before now. I got a greenhouse in August and I'm just getting used to being able to grow year-round... maybe. That is still to be determined. January is our coldest month and that's still to come! So far, so good.

Right now, I've got lots of different lettuces out there to see what I like best. I got some from Johnnys and Fedco plus the racks at Wally world. My two favorites right now are Yugoslavian Red Butterhead and osgarde. I also have tango, lolla rosa, freckles romaine, green oak leaf, vivian romaine, silvia romaine, outredgeous, red sails, green and red salad bowl, winter marvel, rouge d'hiver and black seeded simpson.

I've got to say... this is fun! When you actually grow things under the right conditions, they do really well! Who knew? I'll be looking to find some that will do well in the heat of summer. I guess I should try Nevada since that's where I am!

[QUOTE=KarenO;518399]Even iceberg -type head lettuce is easy to grow, just needs a head start in flats or cells. I can grow it up here, it grows fast into beautiful greener and a bit looser than grocery store iceberg heads and tastes about 100 x better. (The difference between a grocery store tomato and a home grown one better).
really, really good in my garden.
KO[/QUOTE]

That was also my experience with growing iceberg.

I have had all kinds of home grown lettuce including iceberg.
The sad fact of the matter is it always seems some type of vegetable or animal becomes more popular over another.
I dont know why this is but the losers end up being more expensive and people on a tight budget never get a chance to taste these other things.
A goose at my store is close to $100.
Butter head is maybe 4 times higher than iceberg.

Worth