While we discussed  one of the lettuce variety packs yesterday, we did not talk about its fancy French name – Mesclun which means a mix of assorted young salad leaves.
I am trying Gourmet Baby Greens from Botanical Interests this year which includes the following six seeds:
1) Buttercrunch – This plant is a butterhead lettuce that grows into the form of a rosette. Â It has a creamy yellow interior and green outer leaves. Â It has a buttery flavor.
2) Black Seeded Simpson – A loose-leaf lettuce with frilly green leaves. Â It is hot and cold tolerant.
3) Green Salad Bowl – see the blog titled “Lots of Lettuce!”  from yesterday for details on the Red Salad Bowl which is the same except for the color.
For 4) Lolla Rossa, 5) Red Oak Leaf and 6) Rouge d’Hiver, see the blog from yesterday.
Also, the first variety pack that I grew was the Sweet Salad Mix from Burpee which includes the following:
Beet Bull’s Blood – this is acutally a beet but is grown for its yummy leaves that are burgundy red.
Spinach Bloomsdale Long-Standing – This plant is actually spinach not lettuce.
Red Salad Bowl – See the blog from yesterday.
Black-Seeded Simpson – see above.
Mustard Tendergreen – a mild mustard leaf that is often substituted for spinach.
It’s time to start planting lettuce since it loves cool weather. I would suggest putting it under cover for now if you live in an area that could still be affected by frost and crazy temperature swings like in Pittsburgh.
There’s always next year to try some more variety packs that are available!
