Winter Lettuce Compositions
As we approach Autumn it is time to think about how to keep our supply of lettuce going throughout the Winter month. Early September is the last possibility to sow lettuce and most importantly the most suitable varieties.
The lettuce (Compositae family) is a most astonishing plant and probably one of the most popular vegetables today, eaten all over the world. At Neantog the answer to the daily question “What’s for dinner?” invariable goes like this: “Well, salad and lets’ see what else we have…” Salad meaning lettuce most of the time and as we have a garden and a polytunnel with we eat our own lettuce all year round, 365 days, all colours, shapes , flavours and tastes.
We eat lettuce as salad with a simple dressing of two parts of oil to one part of vinegar/balsamic vinegar, sea salt, pepper and a drizzle of organic apple syrup and we mostly eat is as a starter to activate the enzymes in our body for digestion.
Lettuces are a powerhouse of nutrients, and because we eat them raw, they are an excellent source of antioxidants like Vitamin A ,C and E and minerals like Iron, Manganese and Potassium. The darker the leaves - the higher the nutrient content. Eating a fresh green salad every day can be an important and necessary part of a healthy diet. And because lettuces are a perishable food it is best to grow them yourself all year round so you can harvest just before preparing your meal.
Our harvesting tip: It is always best to harvest lettuce by hand, tearing the leaves apart or twisting the head from the roots. That way the lettuce keeps better than cutting with a knife or scissors.
Here is a short guide to successful growing Winter lettuce.
1. Pick the right variety: Lettuce varieties that keep better through the Winter month with lower temperatures and less light are often of the loose leaf type. Cut ‘n come again mixed leaves are a great start. Some mixes include red and green oak leaf (Cerbiatta from Bingenheimer Saatgut)and Lollo Rosa. They are colourful, easy, and fast-growing varieties, which go from seed to baby leaves in five weeks, seed to big salad leaves in seven. Very suitable for growing over the Winter are “oriental leaves”, belonging to the cabbage family like mustard, mizuna and rocket, our favourite is Lebanese Salad Rocket (Irish Seed Savers). Lambs lettuce (Favor from Thompson&Morgan) is a very hardy variety to grow inside and outside. One of our all-time favourites is Winter Purslane/Claytonia (Quickcrop) Other suitable varieties we grow are Endive Pancalieri (Quickcrop) and Briweri (an early butterhead from the Irish Seed Savers).
2. Prepare your beds, containers or polytunnel: Growing lettuce outside over the Winter needs weed free beds with good drainage and fertilised with good compost. Have cloches and garden fleece ready for extra protection in case of frost. We grow most of our Winter lettuces in our polytunnel and in some containers outside the kitchen door. Make sure your polytunnel is well ventilated every day.
3. Sow seeds at the right time: Mid-August to end of September is the time to sow again for a supply that could last well into next April. Raising lettuce plants in modules is the best way to get started. because I feel more in control compared to sowing directly. I plant them out after three to four weeks. “Sowing thinly” is one of my golden rules for mixed leaf lettuce. The ideal germination temperature is around 18 degrees Celsius.
4. Harvest a little at a time: Produce your own mixed salads by growing a range of leafy salads from the cut and come again type. Harvesting the young leaves from outside in when you need them prevents plants from maturing and ensures several harvests of small, tender, mild-flavoured leaves over a long period of time.
