Growing Organic Gourmet Lettuce

The days of only iceberg lettuce in a salad are gone.  Gourmet lettuces can even be found in the produce section of your grocery store.  An even better option, is to grow your own!  There are so many beautiful, open pollinated or heirloom varieties to choose from. So you can enjoy fresh greens and save seed for the following year. 

Types of Lettuce

Lets get familiar with the types of lettuce.  You will want to plant some of each type to really give a variety of textures and color to your salads.

There are five types of lettuce each with different growth habits and different harvesting methods.

Cos (Romaine): A head lettuce with large leaves, a thick midrib, and upright tall heads.  Most of us are familiar with Romaine lettuce used in Caesar's salads; however, there are many more color options than just green.  Cos lettuce is meant to be harvested as a head lettuce. 

Bronze Arrowhead an oak leaf leaf lettuce.  

Loose leaf or leaf lettuce:  

Loose leaf varieties do not form heads.  An array of leaf types and leaf color can be found in loose leaf lettuces. There are oakleaf and frilled leaf types just to name a few. Red, burgundy, freckled, and green are a few of the colors of loose leaf lettuce to choose from.

     There are 2 options for harvesting.  Outer leaves can be harvested any time. Cut the leaves with scissors or gently tear them off.  Harvest in early morning. Then wash the leaves and put the leaves in the refrigerator in zip loc bag for a day or two before using.  You can also use the cut and come again method.  This is done by cutting all leaves leaving a 2” stub which will not harm the growing point.  Tender, new leaves will regrow from that growing point. 

Butterhead or Bibb Lettuce:  This is a tender, delicious, gourmet lettuce.  It forms a loose head that is know for tender, buttery leaves. When harvesting butterhead types, pull the entire plant up, trim the root, and put the entire head in Ziploc bag or in air tight container with the roots intact. Wait to wash until you are ready to use the lettuce.  Use a salad spinner to remove the water from the washed leaves. Butterhead lettuce does not store as well as loose leaf varieties so don't wait too long.  

Crisphead or Iceberg:  This is the lettuce most people are familiar with.  It forms a tight head of crisp leaves.  It is more difficult to grow because it does not like heat of drought, but there are varieties that are slower to bolt such as Red Iceberg.

Summerhead, Batavian, or French Crisp:  This lettuce has characteristics of both crisphead and looseleaf.  It is resistant to bolting with excellent flavor.  The outer leaves are thick and crisp.  They can be harvested as a looseleaf until the actual head form.  The heart of the head is sweet and tender.

Lettuce mixes can also be purchased.

Growing Lettuce

Lettuce is one of the few seeds that needs light to germinate.  I like to start mine indoors; however, you can direct seed in the garden. 
Since the seeds are sown on the surface they tend to float where you don't want them when sown directly in the garden. I like to transplant in nice rows so I start them indoors.

 To start lettuce seed indoors, use a seedling mix and sprinkle a couple seeds on the surface and press them into planting mix. Use the same method when sowing directly in the garden; press seeds into the soil and keep them watered.

Plant lettuce seedlings outside into a soil with lots of compost when they have 4-5 leaves and the weather is right.  Lettuce will tolerate and even appreciate some shade.  Keep the soil evenly moist because the roots are very shallow. Mulch around plants to help retain moisture and keep soil off of the leaves. Don't wait too long to transplant lettuce does not like the heat.

If you direct seed I recommend using a pelleted seed which will make it easier to plant.

     I like to succession plant so I have lettuce throughout the season. The season includes early spring and fall.  Summer heat causes lettuce to bolt or produce seed so when the summer heat sets in I leave 3-5 plants in the garden to harvest seed from and pull up the rest and replace them with a summer crop.

     To have lettuce during the summer, you could try growing lettuce indoors in pots.  Look for slow bolt varieties to extend the harvest as long as possible in the garden.  Eventually nature will take its course.  The heat signals lettuce to go into reproductive mode and produce flowers and seeds.  This change causes the production of chemicals that make lettuce bitter.  

Lettuce is a quick growing short seasoned crop.  A early spring and fall planting will provide you with beautiful gourmet lettuce.  In early spring, I like to make salads with strawberries and raspberries which are in season at the same time. Add some spinach and Asian greens for even more variety.   Fall planted lettuce will be ready with your summer salad crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and onions.  So many delicious options!

Strawberry Spinach Salad