What lettuce do you love to grow?

I'm trying lettuce for the first time this year and so far i've enjoyed it very much. What do you like to grow and why? I'd like to try some different varieties. Choices for year round growing as well. So far, I've done Lamb's lettuce.

I really like Bibb Lettuce. Trouble is it only works late fall and early spring here in the Gulf Coast of Texas. I let some go to seed - have some beautiful yellow flowers today. Raining or would take a picture and post..
Saw some discussion of mescaline (sp) greens somewhere in DG, but cannot remember the thread.

I'm with Bubba--not the season here but this winter the biggest hits with the people in my house that eat lettuce (not necessarily my favorites) were buttercrunch, verte mar romaine, and grand rapids. I grow about 10-15 varieties in succession plantingsevery 2-3 weeks from Oct-end of Jan.
Debbie

I started out with Black seeded simpson. I like it and I can get it to go through August if I keep the larger leaves picked off. (ends up looking like little palm trees out there by the end of the season!) I like buttercrunch. Deers tongue, Oakleaf. I also like some of the spicy greens like mustart and arugula. Adds some zip to the mix.

Edited to comment on Mesclun. It really just means a mix of different salad greens. Which is really nice. You can get variety of mixes and it looks nice and tastes great.. but I give you fair warning.. you will never be able to eat a resteraunt iceberg lettuce salad again! lol (and I like Ice berg.. it's crisp and juicy!)

This message was edited May 31, 2006 7:34 PM

Forellenschluss (Speckled Trout), a cos lettuce. Best mixed with a little Black-seeded Simpson, young arugula, mizuna, with some sorrell or chervil tossed in. Yum yum.

I did lettuce for the first time too. I got a lett mix from SSE , and it is sooooo pretty i hate to pick it, expecially the Forellenshluss, also in the mix is , Amsh deer tongue,Austarlian yellow leaf,bronze arrowhead,lollo rossa,pablo red, red velvet and reine des glaces, does strawberry spinach count? all have done very well in the heat and humidity , I m really amazed i thought it woould wilt and be useless in this heat, but it is still going strong here in Ohio, tonight i made my first salad with all the lettuce from my garden , yuuuummmy, next yr i think iwil double my order.
sue

hmm.. ::Planning a midnight raid on Taynors lettuce bed:: muaahaahaaa

We over winter ours under row cover and let it go to seed in the spring. The seed from last year gets all mixed-up and planted every few weeks in spring until it get too hot. We're going to try and grow some under the bean trellis this summer so it gets morning sun and mid-day to evening shade. We started out with a bunch of varieties and save the seeds from what does well here. Paris Island Cos, Butter crunch, speckles, Johnny's wild fire mix, red romaine, oak leaf, etc. Sometimes we throw in mustard, beet, & green onions for a little spice. The spinach and corn salad (mache) over winters without protection in zone 7A . . . may work in zone 6B, too? This first photo is dated 4/15 with the peppers recently planted amoungst lettuce and onion that survived the winter harvest.

Here's the spring spinach (planted in February).

. . . and corn salad going to seed around a just planted 'annual artichoke' (regular artichokes don't survive the winter here!)

More baby lettuce mixed on 4/15 -- it's huge now & starting to bolt

no need to raid at midnight, the garden is always open , unless your a bad bug:) LOL then the garden is closed . No bad bugs allowed.
sue

I'm growing red leaf and romaine. They are doing well, and we are pulling off the delicious outer leaves for salads and sandwiches.

I think I'm going to try some head lettuce this fall when the lamb's lettuce gets cleared out. That stuff grows fast! I was worried about pests, but so far I haven't had any issues at all, aside from the random slug.

We do alot of potluck dinners and parties here and it is such an awesome feeling, to show up with a bowl full of fresh salad that you grew. I can wear the crown of the gardener.

I grow many different types and varieties of lettuce and several mixes, so it's always a bonanza. But my favorite is a crunchy sweet butter head bibb type.

I have to join the crowd which loves bibb ( buttercrunch) lettuce. I always grow some. I also grow arugula which I sometimes toss all by itself with salt, pepper, lemon juice, oil and goat cheese for an outstanding salad. For the warmer months try Burpee's Diamond Ice, a wonderful crisp head lettuce. And for fall, I plant escarole, in the summer so it can mature in cool weather. It makes beautiful lettuce-like greens.

I often buy mesclun and plant it as well. It is a yummy mixture of lettuce and other salad greens and, is really beautiful in its variety of colors and shapes and tasty in its mixture of flavors.

I also like Marvel of Four Seasons, Red Sails, both red and green romaine. I have a spot were I once planted red mustard and let it go seed. I have hundreds of baby red mustard plants in the spring and mix their baby leaves in with the lettuces above when they are young. I always let a few plants go to seed for the next year.

Lettuce loves cool weather so it is perfect for spring and fall.

I love bronze leaf, romaine, buttercrunch and merlot.

Gosh--Such lovely lettuce and in June too. California must be the land of milk and honey....starting to get hot, sticky, and downright itchy down here. Taking notes for fall garden; but on the upside, all this rain we've had now has the southern magnolias blooming. Even Houston smells good these days. lol

I love magnolias! We have been having some really weird weather here in LA, it is just starting to get warm, but yesterday and today, lots of clouds. The romaine is doing well as well as the bronze leaf, I bought what is supposed to be a heat resistant variety.

What variety Kanita? Always looking for heat resistant varieties here.

It was sooo hot and sticky yesterday down here but I had potting I just had to do. So even working in the shade, my DG t-shirt walked itself to the dirty clothes basket last night!
Debbie

New pictures -- we let the winter lettuce go to seed and planted peppers in the bare spots.

The early spring lettuce is starting to bolt (interplanted with dill, spinach, beet and green onions).

And summer lettuce (haven't been successful with this yet) planted under the arched bean trellis -- allows for morning sun but mid-day & afternoon shade. Maybe we'll actually be able to eat tomatoes with salad this summer!

Hmmm..Gorgeous veggie beds.. but why the arched trellis? Does it make the beans hang down and be easier to find and pick? I am intrigued

We're trying the arched trellis new this year. I read in one of the market gardening books that it helps growing heat sensitive plants like lettuce under beans, cucumber or tomatoes. The open end of the arch faces east (see the sunrise?) so they get full sun in the morning before it get's too hot. Then, they're shaded from noon through the rest of the day. Last year we made teepees out of bamboo and the lettuce underneath didn't get enough light and kind of stunted. Then Hurricane's Katrina & Rita knocked them over (and we're quite a way from the coast!). We're hoping the beans will be easier to pick, too . . .

Well It's cool looking at the very least! But it would be nice if the beans cooperated and just hung down like little bunches of grapes ready to be gathered!

Debbie - I am growing little gem romaine from Baker Creek. The heads are smaller, but heat tolerant and mine have not yet bolted, now my spinach is another story.

I like the Nevada Batavian lettuce...Sierra.