ooooh lettuce

Rage_in_Eden

anyone listening to Radio 4 with a rant about the poor choice of lettuce you can get in UK supermarkets?

Bogof_Babe

Missed it, drat . Hope it is on Listen Again. Actually I thought we were rather spoiled for choice, so I'd love to know what I'm missing! We always buy Little Gems anyway, but perhaps it's time I was a bit more adventurous.

Allexie

You seem to be able to get lots of different varieties in the ready prepared packs but it ain't so easy to buy the fancy lettuces individually. My lettuce of choice would always be Cos when it's available. Wonder what other people prefer???

Rage_in_Eden

best ever salad would be cos, frisse, rocket and watercress mmmmmmm :drool: apparently it was saying that we can only get varieties in packets (chlorine enhanced!!!) and on the continent you can get loads of different types as they grow to the season and yet over here it's sell em cheap stack em high..... i think i may be motivated to invest in a packet of seeds of something expensive - i've got a couple of wall baskets free.............

Eliza252

i love really strong tasting lettuce - so all the exotic brands that are expensive.
I absolutely DETEST buying bagged lettuce.
problem is I cant get the darned stuff to grow on my allotment
Its just too delicate.

Galtizz

Gardener I aint (that's my disclaimer before I start despensing advise )

BUT, acording to my Gardeners World magazine (bought because I was given a £1 off voucher ) lettuce won't grow if it's too hot, it just stops and won't germinate or grow so it suggests putting it somewhere cool and shady, so maybe it's the weather? It also said it needs light to germinate so don't plant it too deep. Have you tried starting it off at home in a pot on the windowsill and planting them out when they get a big bigger?

If it's slugs that are the problem then I don't know? Sorry, saw something on Spring watch about grapefruits but I never really got that one

HTH

Edit: to keep on topic, I'm looking forward to trying my HG lettuce supposedly 'mixed lettuce leaves' but they all look the same to me :rolleyes:

Since being told that, if you are going to buy anything organic make it lettuce (and chicken) due to all of the pesticides/homones nasties they get sprayed and injected with :eek: I haven't bought lettuce (and certainly not one in a bag) but I agree, we seem to have a choice of iceburg, gem or flat or more adventurous ones mixed in a bag.

Where do chefs get them from? surely Jamie Oliver doesn't buy bagged lettuce from Sainsbury's? He must get it direct from a farm or somewhere?

P.s That advert for Florette lettuce is nearly as annoying as the crazy frog one. Has anyone else seen it? it's a musical with the young boys in dungeries singing frissy, frissy, frissy, sounds like they're singing prissy, prissy, prissy to me

KTFrugal

Lettuce is really easy to grow on a windowsill. Sprinkle the seeds over damp compost, spritz with water, sprinkle over a little more compost and cover the pot with a clear poly bag. They should germinate within 2 weeks. Keep the pot damp and as soon as the seedlings appear, remove the poly bag.

Once the seedlings have their second set of leaves, you can plant them out, or pot them on, depending on how much space you've got. You can even grow them in a hanging basket, if that's all you can find. Choose a red frilly type for this, such as Red Sails, to mix in with your fave green leaf.

Galtizz

KTFrugal wrote:

Red Sails, to mix in with your fave green leaf.

Read this as Red sNails and thought Pal was back :eek: :rotfl:

crana999

KTfrugal, two questions:

Can you keep growing the plants until they are fully-grown inside? (I don't have any way to grow anything outside, only on a windowsill) Are there particular varieties that grow better indoors than others?

When should you plant them?

Thanks!!

Debt_Free_Chick

A few facts about bagged lettuce leaves ...... work it out and you'll find it costs not far off £10 per kilo. I ask you .... HOW MUCH? :eek:

To test for "quality" the supermarkets take a sample of the grown lettuces and plunge them in water. If a single insect floats to the surface, the whole consignment is binned. So .... what do you think the farmer does in order to pass the "quality" test? Yep, sprays and sprays and sprays ..... Do you want to be eating that?

And for good measure, the lettuces are washed before they're sorted and bagged. Great! Not..... they are washed in a solution of chlorine which is 20 times stronger than that used in your local public swimming pool. Yeuch :eek:

So this year I'm growing Misticanza di Lattughe (Italian Mixed Leaves), Romana (Romaine), Testa di Burro D’Inverno (Butterhead) and Rocket and then over winter, under a cloche, Winter Density (Cos) and Corn Salad (Lamb's Lettuce).

Just wish I had a fresh water stream for the watercress ... might try Landcress next year.

Supermarket lettuce? Not if I had to eat it to save my life. Gggrrrrrr

apprentice_tycoon

I'm growing good old fashioned Webbs (a crunchy hearting lettuce), Cos, and Corn Salad or Lambs lettuce, I have been treating the Webbs a bit like a looseleaf and using the side leaves for a serving before cutting them totally, it seems to be working - they got absolutely splattered with mud on Sunday though - I share everyones views about bagged lettuce.