About Lettuce

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Susan Says

MOTHER'S GARDENER,SUSAN Sides, tells why lettuce, these days, need never be a humdrum crop:

This past year we grew some 18 varieties of lettuce at the MOTHER EARTH NEWS gardens, and found that this vegetable's astounding array of shapes and colors makes it an excellent edible ornamental. From seed to mature plant in an average of two months, lettuce quickly creates borders and blocks of color that used to be reserved for nonedible edging plants.

Pandion (a mild, lime green butterhead from Johnny's) was so beautiful that none of my lettuce-hungry friends (nor myself could bear to harvest a head on the first planting. Royal Oakleaf from The Cook's Garden stoi cally resisted bolting and garnered oohs and ahs from each and every visitor. Little Gem (also known as Sugar Cos) from Bountiful Gardens is a mild-tasting mini-romaine that wowed even those who were turned off by store-bought types.

Mesclun-growing (long-practiced in Europe where salad greens are darker and much more diverse in texture and taste) is an art being popularized in this country through small seed houses with access to excellent European seed. "Cutting mix" is another name for mesclun, which perhaps gives you a clearer idea of the concept. A variety of saladgreen seeds that may include lettuces, chervil or other herbs, and chicories and arugula or other bitter greens are mixed together and sown en masse. The resulting blend of colors and textures creates a most interesting pattern in the garden, as well as variety in the salad bowl.

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