“Most lettuces are spring lettuces—except for the overwintering types,’’ Shep explained. Spring weather is ideal for growing lettuces, and even summer and fall lettuces can be grown in the spring, although some spring lettuces will not tolerate the heat of summer or the cold of fall or winter.
“I like the big beautiful heads of ‘Red Sails’ and ‘Black-Seeded Simpson,’ which grows fast and tastes good. ‘Red Grenoble,’ another of my favorites, is a vigorous grower and can be cut as loose-leaf lettuce or left to head up. ‘Four Seasons’ is a good red butterhead and seems to grow a little longer into the summer than some around here do.
“For the summer ‘Esmeralda’ is a great butterhead with big, beautiful heads. We’ve had good luck with that even in the middle of the summer. Of course, our summers aren’t as hot as many; they’re usually in the seventies with some days in the low eighties. Occasionally we get temperatures in the nineties, but they don’t last long enough to really hurt the lettuce. And we always have cool nights.
“Other summer lettuces I like are ‘Matchless’ and ‘Buttercrunch,’ which have very nice heads; ‘Matchless’ is the darker of the two and has unique, triangular leaves. ‘Red Riding Hood’ is nice—it’s similar to ‘Four Seasons’ but darker and holds better in the heat. Of course, I must mention ‘Sierra,’ a butterhead type with a bronze tinge, as it’s the most heat-tolerant of all the varieties. ‘Craquerelle du Midi’ also holds well in the heat and is like ‘Buttercrunch’ but more open-hearted. I don’t care for the texture that much, but it’s popular among people in warm climates. People even write to us from Florida to tell us how well it does there.
‘“Diamond Gem,’ another summer variety, is my personal favorite at the moment. I planted a lot of it and found it did really well. It’s very heat-resistant—so heat-resistant that it almost fouls up our successions, because it can sit in the heat longer than most of the other lettuce varieties in the same bed without going to seed. But that makes it a good home variety, and it’s the best sandwich lettuce I know of.
“Of the fall/winter lettuces, I like ‘Winter Density.’ That’s like a large ‘Diamond Gem,’ but with row covers it overwinters here—or it grows well in the summer. ‘Brune d’Hiver,’ another nice winter lettuce, is more brown than red and is real hardy. That one overwinters here with no problem, but it has to be planted late in the summer to prevent bolting.
“Of the cutting lettuces, I like ‘Royal Oak Leaf,’ ‘Salad Bowl,’ and ‘Red Salad Bowl.’ I grow large amounts of these three side by side because they’re so beautiful and look so good in salads. The ‘Royal Oak Leaf’ gets bitter easily, though, and it’s more susceptible to disease than the others are. There is a red form, too, called ‘Brunia.’
“For other greens, we do fine with escaroles and endives, but chicories, which should be planted in the fall for a spring harvest in a Mediterranean climate, are really chancy here. ‘Sugar loaf,’ ‘Ceriolo,’ ‘Spadona,’ ‘Puntarella,’ and ‘Dentarella’ are all chancy, as are red chicories, the radicchios. We grow them on a spring/fall schedule rather than a fall/spring schedule, and I always leave some in the ground because I’ve discovered that they occasionally will survive the winter. We’ve tried forcing various radicchios as you would ‘Witloof,’ but they haven’t done well.
“Obviously, rocket [arugula] also needs to be included on the list of other greens,” Shep continued. “Its spicy flavor is a good addition to salads. I have no use for ‘White Mustard,’ on the other hand; it has a hairy leaf. I much prefer ‘Miike Purple,’ ‘Osaka Purple,’ or mizuna. Mizuna has beautiful cut foliage and a mild flavor. I also like all of the cresses. I sow the seeds often and harvest when they’re very small. I like mâche too. I prefer the big-leaf kinds like ‘Piedmont’ or the cup-leaved ‘Coquille.’ Then there is the whole range of minor greens that really make a mesclun mix stand out: miner’s lettuce [claytonia], golden purslane, minutina, shungiku, orach—the list goes on—we grow about forty kinds.”
As Shep’s strong ideas about varieties indicate, there are lots of options. Deciding which lettuces are best for your garden depends on your climate and season and on which ones enchant you the most!
‘Marvel of Four Seasons’ is a lush spring leaf lettuce that originated in France. It is sometimes sold under its French name: ‘Merveille des Quatres Saisons.’
encyclopedia of salad greens
The following detailed list of green vegetables gives the particulars for growing a lifetime’s worth of salads. For more detailed information on soil preparation, mulching, fertilizing, composting, and pests and diseases, see Appendixes A and B (pages 92-103). Many can be grown as baby greens and harvested in the cut-and-come-again method—and those I have so noted. See the Andrea Crawford interview (page 10) for more information on this method of growing and harvesting baby greens. Of course, most of these greens can also be cooked, but the “How to Prepare” instructions here focus on using them raw in salads.
There are many hundreds of salad greens. For this section I have chosen my favorites. The encyclopedia entries include the Latin plant names so that you can identify plants properly. Some of the species and varieties are quite popular and will be readily available, many, however, are only available through specialty mail-order houses. I have listed the seed companies that carry the largest selections of greens in the Resources section on page 104. You will need to obtain at least three or four catalogs to get the best selection of greens.
Amaranth ‘Sensation’
AMARANTH
Amamnthus hypochondriacus, A. tricolor
Amaranth leaves can be green, red, cream, or a combination of all three, depending on the variety. The young shoots and leaves are tender and mild enough to eat raw in salads. From the land of the Incas, this nutritious green has traveled a bit: in Africa and the Caribbean it is known as callaloo, and in China a leaf type called Chinese spinach is grown. Amaranth is one of the few salad greens that glories in warm weather. Young leaves from the leaf-type varieties can be used as a substitute for spinach.
How to grow: Start amaranth seedlings after all danger of frost has passed. Plant seeds ⅛ inch deep, 4 inches apart in full sun and in rich, well-drained soil, and keep the bed fairly moist. Thin the plants to 1 foot and mulch to preserve moisture and prevent weeds. Generally, amaranth seeds and seedlings grow with great enthusiasm. The leaf types grow to 2 feet, some of the showy varieties to 3 feet. If cucumber beetles or other chewing insects are a problem, protect the plants with floating (polyester) row covers. Harvest the tender leaves when they are quite young.
Varieties
‘Burgundy’: 105 days, spectacular reddish purple plants to 8 feet tall, grain type
‘Green Leaf Vegetable Amaranth’: 50 days, oval green leaves, 18 inches tall, leaf type, the best for salads
‘Joseph’s-Coat’: a tricolor variety (red, cream, and green leaves), spectacular plants, leaf type, great as a garnish
‘Merah’: