Harvesting My Winter Gems

We had a few friends round for a BBQ today so it was the perfect opportunity to cut three of my Winter Gem Lettuces that have been happily growing in the coldframe all Winter.

They have hearted up nicely over the last week and were hitting perfection today so I went for it.

Winter Gem are just like Little Gem’s except they’re way more Winter hardy. They taste virtually the same too – nice and crispy and perfect with a good sharp dressing.

I sowed them back in October last year and basically fretted and fussed over them all Winter, particularly during our bout of snow. Then in early March I thinned them out, which is what allowed them to grow lovely and big.

I’d say growing Winter Lettuce is the perfect use of a coldframe or greenhouse. It makes use of your frame during an empty period and by the time you need it they can either be harvested or transferred to your main plot – I transferred my other Winter sowings (Avalanche Cauliflower and Winter Density Lettuce) a couple of weeks ago.

So come this October the first thing I’ll be doing is sowing some Winter Lettuce.

Category: Vegetables     Tagged:

7 Comments on “Harvesting My Winter Gems”

  1. I agree. They are so nice to look at during Winter and encourage one to soldier on with the gardening into the Spring.

  3. We had our first Winter Gems a couple of weeks ago – they got a bit leggy to start with but have come back well. Such a gorgeous deep green! They’re doing a great job tiding us over until the new season lettuce is ready. Will definitely plant them again next autumn.

  4. Oh thank you for this. I have been having a similar conversation with my allotment friends about winter greens and when to start sowing. This looks great and I like the idea of having something in the ground over the winter, something to look forward to. I will give this a go come October. Lou x

  5. Why am I never organised enough to have a supply of winter lettuce. Looks delicious, this year I really will get it done thougn!!

  6. I’ve been eating winter density and artic king much earlier than the spring sown lettuce, worth doing to get salad greens a few weeks early.