All unnecessary corniness aside, the lettuce has come a long way after its miserable start, and we’re now picking it a few times a week, so I took a few pictures for posterity’s sake, since it is nice looking lettuce once it’s all grown up. I did three varieties this year:
Rossa di Trento – A beautiful savoyed red-tipped cutting lettuce from Milan, Italy. Resists bolting and is widely adapted for outdoor plantings, but also performs well in a greenhouse. Can be grown nearly year-round in mild climates.
Bronze Arrowhead – Introduced as Bronze Beauty by Germania Seed. Awarded the bronze medal at the 1947 All American Selections. Hailed as “the finest, most colorful and most delicious leaf lettuce for the home garden.” Our favorite oakleaf type.
Forellenschluss – (aka Speckled Trout Back) Gorgeous Austrian heirloom with green leaves speckled with maroon. Superior flavor; holds very well in the summer heat. Our all-time favorite!
I’m hoping to get a second planting in this fall when it starts to cool down a bit, and I’m hoping it doesn’t take almost three months to harvest this time! All in all, we enjoy each variety. Obviously, I picked them partially for visual appeal, but I do also like to find varieties that are supposed to be slow to bolt in the summer – it’s always a bummer when the lettuce starts to get tall and spindly and bitter. Kinda puts a damper on the whole salad thing.
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