Lamb's lettuce
Among the best-known salads, lamb's lettuce or "wheat salad" is at the top of the list. With its small, round leaves, this vegetable from the Valerianaceae family is a regular feature at the dinner table. As an accompaniment to a pizza, a cheese platter, or simply as a light starter, it brings good humour and essential vitamins during the winter. There are two main varieties in the garden: small-seeded lamb's lettuce and large-seeded lamb's lettuce with lighter leaves.
Lamb's lettuce is the ideal vegetable if you do not have a large garden. It is very easy to grow it in a pot or in a window box on your balcony, as long as there is enough sun. To sow it, the seeds are placed in light furrows of 1 cm deep, and spaced out of about twenty centimetres. The soil does not matter, as long as it is not too wet. A half-shade exposure will be perfect for its growth.
According to the calendar, it is preferable to plant it from the end of August, after which it will be necessary to thin out the shoots to keep only one every 10 cm. The harvest can be done as early as November. Note that some varieties planted in late October will have to wait until spring to be harvested. By cutting the leaves and leaving the roots in the ground, a second growth is possible. It will have to be harvested before it rises and flowers so that it is fit for consumption.
Lamb's lettuce
- Type : Vegetables
- Subtype : Leafy vegetables
- Botanical family : Valerianaceae
Characteristics
- Exposure : Partial shade
- Hardiness : Frost resistant
- Easy to grow, but requires regular maintenance (difficulty : 2/3)
Sowing & planting
- Sowing depth : 0.5 cm
- Plant spacing : 8 cm
- Row spacing : 15 cm
- Emergence time : 10 days
- Emergence temperature : 18 °C
- From sowing to harvesting : 90 days
- Seed storage : 5 years