About Lettuce

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Romaine,or cos, lettuce—whose tall, crunchy, spoon-shaped leaves allow in enough light to boost its nutritional value—was developed in Italy and introduced to France by Rabelais. Heat-tolerant and easy to grow, the very big-leaved types produce crisp, white hearts that can be substituted for celery. Paris White (80 days), which has a flavor like Brussels chicory, is a favorite and very reliable cos variety. Other popular romaines are Dark Green Cos, Parris Island Cos and an early dwarf with a sweet taste called Little Gem.

Butterhead, or Boston, lettuce has soft, tender, rich green outer leaves and white to yellowish hearts. Aside from being nutritious, it's considered by many people to be the best lettuce in taste and texture. Small, fast-maturing types (60 to 75 days)—such as Buttercrunch, Bibb and Tom Thumb—need cool, springlike weather and excellent soil to produce well, but Deer Tongue (also called Matchless) is more heat-resistant. Other butterhead favorites are Dark Green Boston, Fordhook (both take 80 days to mature) and Summer Bibb (62 days).

Loose-leaf lettuce can tolerate much warmer temperatures than heading lettuce, and because it's also nutritious and fast-growing, and comes in so many different varieties, it's ideal for home gardens. Some types form fairly compact heads, but most are characterized by loose, open growth habits and colorful leaves that range from frilly to smooth. For example, Salad Bowl (heat resistant, 45 days), Black-Seeded Simpson (crispy, delicately flavored, 45 days) and Grand Rapids (45 days) all have dense clumps of crinkled, light green leaves, while the heat-resistant Oakleaf (40 days) and Ruby (45 days) have bronze or reddish foliage. There's another advantage to looseleaf types: You can harvest the outer leaves, and the plants will keep producing new leaves to be picked later.

There are also numerous dwarf varieties suitable for containers, small gardens and one-or two-person households.

Stem lettuce, or celtuce (80 days), is cultivated like other types, but while bolting (going to seed) makes other lettuces bitter, it's encouraged with this variety. Though the leaves of celtuce can be used in salads, it's grown primarily for its stem; it has a crunchy taste similar to hearts of palm and can act as a celery substitute.

How toGrow

As mentioned before, lettuce prefers cool temperatures and is considered to be a spring crop. However, unless your summers are extremely hot or your winters incredibly cold, there are fairly simple ways to extend the lettuce season.

For very early spring lettuce, sow heading types outdoors in midautumn in cold frames or under hot caps. (Try cutting out the bottoms of one-gallon plastic milk jugs, and set these, with the caps removed, over the young plants.) In mild climates, a very heavy mulch might be adequate to protect the plants from the cold.

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