Monty Don on lettuce

[Allan]

Monty Don on lettuce. He has got it mostly right, except that my information is that Cos lettuce are among the hardiest over winter.

http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/exp ... e_continue

[Deb P]

What does he mean about bastardising 'Little Gem' though? I am obviously too much of a lady to work it out....

[Carole B.]

Is this lightly caramelised Monty Don on a bed of frissee lettuce with a tarragon and balsamic vinegar dressing?

[Johnboy]

He has one thing wrong and that is that far from being a cut and come again lettuce 'Marvel of Four Seasons' is a Butterhead which will not stand cut and come again and apparently the type of lettuce he dislikes.
I very much doubt that he wrote this article as I suspect most of his work is done by 'Ghosts'sadly he is let loose on the unsuspecting population who have an entirely different opinion of him than I do.

[Allan]

Well spotted, Johnboy. We grow Marvel of Four Seasons, not keen on it ourselves as it is rather what we call flab lettuce but it seems to have a lot of customers which I suspect is because of its colour. No more CCA's here, I have binned the lot as too fiddly. Give me a cos any time, and I have to toss up betweeen Little Gem and Buttercrunch for market which despite its classification is very similar to Little Gem and has served me well for many years. At the moment I am running Counter fron DT Brown which is a Lobjoit/Little Gem cross, intermediade in size.
I must admit that tentative experiments with 'Marvel4S' seem to indicate that it has a degree of hardiness that others lack, probably hence the name. However this year I shall run various chicories and endives for the winter, lettuce are a headache with botrytis in the cold and damp and chicories don't have to be bitter.
I think you must be right about the Ghosting, the thought of him doing what's necessary for TV, and Chelsea and his new 'farm' and all the writing for magazines and books just doesn't add up, but if you had a virtual rubber-stamp of a name wouldn't you to be tempted to 'print money'?

[Johnboy]

Hi Allan,
There are a number of medium Cos letuces and the article mentions one which is Kendo which is about the same size as Little Gem but is a bronze variety.
This is a super lettuce and bronze on the outside is a wonderful creamy green when cut in half.
Another bronze but just a little larger is Lttle Leprechaun and Rusty, which is the most flavoursome lettuce I have ever tasted is even larger than Lobjoits Green. The other August Bank Holiday I picked a very large one which I weighed at just over 7lbs and I thought it was about to go to seed but not a bit of it and it fed 6 adults for the entire weekend. Having said that they do not generally get that large and heart up quite early in their growth so can be picked when about a quarter of that size.
This one just got overlooked.
When I was operational I used to grow 40 varieties for retail and mail order outlets.
Sadly Supermarkets have got it into their heads that Butterheads and what they now name Romaine (US speak for Cos) are all that the British Folk will eat and a real host of really superb lettuces never get anywhere near to an unsuspecting public.
I grow many varieties of cut and come again Lettuces on the benches outside in 2L pots covered with fleece and my lunchtime sandwich normally has several leaves from differnt varieties and really improves the taste. Wellie will love this: two slices of home made bread liberally spread with butter and 'Marmite' with good honest Cheddar Cheese and a few lettuce leaves takes a bit of beating!

[Allan]

We rather like imported Romaine at a time when we do not have any lettuce. Have you tried polycress from Unwins/ T&M (ref. 821). 25 days to cropping,3 cuts possible, just that little bit spicy makes it interesting. We have switched it to modules approx 3 seeds each.
The other one on our regulars is Pandora, a deep red on the outside. I particularly like the pelleted seeds, easy to manage singly with almost certainty that 100% will grow so no thinning. I got them originally from Unwin but the latest from Moles work out a lot cheaper, a nice little tube in the packet gives it a most unusual 'pregnant' look.
Experiments like this stop gardening from being boring. My new greenhouse (Hereford) where I sow the seeds has radio&Cd, intercom to the mainland, tap and rain water, quite a home from home.
Allan

[Iain]

Johnboy, where can seeds of Kendo and Rusty be bought, please?

I.

[Allan]

http://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/documents/ ... ed2003.pdf

RHS details of lettuce trials, including Kendo, Rusty, Little Leprehaun, Pandero. Includes stockists but check by a websurf as it is not necessarily up to date (2003). I note that Rusty is synomynous with Marvel of 4 seasons which I first heard about on a TV program "The X000-mile Garden", the US participant was growing them so I think it has been around for some time. It's a bit big for some people but keeps very well in a cool store. Very solid head. What annoys me is that it needs twice the space of a medium cos to grow and all our lettuce have to be grown behind anti-slug barrier in summer which costs money yet we don't get twice the money for it.
Allan

[Allan]

Another year of lettuce has come and gone,I grew Counter successfully but it is a bit small. I happened on a packet of Sherwood from T & M, just right for size and excellent flavour. The troble now is T & M aren't listing it again for 2006, in fact it has just disappeared which is very off-putting. Fortunatey I have more than enough Counter to see me through. I could save seeds of Sherwood if it will get that far this year, if not then there are just a few seeds left in the packet.
Allan

[David]

I wonder if I should be growing lettuce in the greenhouse as well as the garden. Would that give me any advantages/problems?

Thanks

[John]

Hello David
You could certainly grow lettuce during the winter in your greenhouse. There are several varieties available for just this purpose (can't remember their names at the moment!). Don't plant too closely and be careful not to over-water. I can't see much point in growing summer types under glass when the space is better used for crops like toms, cucs, peppers, melons etc which need that extra bit of warmth.

Allan - I've found Counter to be well worth growing. It has excellent colour, good taste and best of all it stands well when other varieties might have bolted.

John

[Chantal]

I grow Misticanza from Seeds of Italy (http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/44) in my greenhouse over the winter. It's cut and come again so goes on for ages. I also grow mizuna and mibuna.

[cevenol jardin]

Misticanza from Seeds of Italy does last long time i left mine in the tunnel from last winter (laziness really) and the little patch produced leaves all summer I am still cutting them which is lucky because there is nothing else to be had - the wild pigs got into my main garden this year and top of the list on their menu was my lettuces.

I am surprise MD just dismissed all iceberg as rubbish in my opinion there's some crackers. An Italian/French one that is absolutely delicious, dense crisp heart with spiky frilly leaves on the outside called Regina Dei Ghiacci (Seeds of Italy) in France there is a similar if not the same variety called Reine Des Glaces which i think may also be the same as a British Ice Queen.

A great winter cos MD overlooked is Winter Density (Organic Cat) that is our staple winter to spring lettuce.

Thanks for the tips on some other vars to try guys.

Does anyone have recommendations for lettuces for the polytunnel winter particularly looking for ones that resist mildew.