headinglettuces,suchasthefamiliar‘Iceberg’,we
mustfastforwardtothe16thcentury,whenthey
firstappearinthepaintingsoftheDutchmasters.
Fora while,‘Iceberg’wastheonlylettuceon
offerinAustraliaandNewZealand,butnowwe
areblessedwithallmannerofcrispcosandbuttery
looseleaftypes.
Eatinga homegrownlettuceis a completely
differentexperiencetoonefromthesupermarket.
Supermarketlettucesaregrownveryquicklyin
controlledconditions,oftenhydroponically,
undera highpercentageofshade,toensurelarge,
soft,non-bitterleaves.It’sterriblyefficientfrom
a businesspointofview,butit doesn’tresultin
a lettucethatsetsthetastebudsonfire.Lettuce
growninrichsoilandfullsun,ontheotherhand,
is absolutelydelectable,bothtexturallyand
flavourwise.Homegrownlettuceactuallytastes
likelettuce.It hasa flavourallofitsown.
Wetendtothinkoflettuceasa vegetablefor
eatingfresh,butit canbecooked,too.TheFrench
sautélettuceinbutterwithpeastomakepetitspois.
Italiansthrowquarteredcoslettuceonthegrilland
dressit witholiveoilandorangejuice.InChina,
youmightfindlettucestir-friedwithgarlicor
cookedinclearsoup.Growingyourown
Lettuceis a greatcropforsmallgardensand
balconies,becauseyoucantucktheminaround
slow-growingcropssuchastomatoes.Sowa few
newlettuceplantseverycoupleofweekstokeep
a constantsupplycomingthrough.
Thesecrettosowinglettucefromseedis to
doit duringcoolweather,andtosowveryshallow
(5mmdeepat most).Theseedremainsdormant
if thesoiltemperatureis above 15 degreesCelsius,
soinsummerit’sbesttosowincelltraysandkeep
themsomewherecooluntiltheygerminate.You
canevenplacetheminthefridgefora nightor
twoif theweatheris toohotoutside.Theseedlings
canbeplantedoutwhentheyreach5cminheight.Choosingwhattoplant
Looseheadingtypesarethemostusefulinsmall
gardens,astheycanbeharvestedleafbyleaf.The
Austrianheirloom‘Forellenschluss’hastender
leavesmarbledwithred.‘AustralianYellowLeaf’
and‘BlackSeededSimpson’bothhaveacidgreen,
frillyleaves,whilevampish‘RedVelvet’is darkest
garnetred.‘RoyalOakleaf’,withitsflamboyantly
furledfoliage,standsupwelltohotweather,asdo
cosvarietiessuchas ‘ParrisIsland’and‘LittleGem’.
If youwanttotrygrowingyourown‘Iceberg’
lettuce,you’llneedtohoneyourtechnique,as
thesearethetrickiesttogrow.Butit’sdefinitely
wortha tryforoldtime’ssake.Lettuce growninrichsoil
andfullsunisabsolutely
delectable, bothtexturally
andflavourwise...Ithas
Simon is a a flavour allits own.
professional
gardener,
author and
baroque
bassoonist.
@simon_rickard
Grow your own
GOURMET TRAVELLER 31