This Years Lettuce

Here are my smart new Lettuce varieties that I’m growing for the first time this year. Above is Reine de Glaces, an iceberg type, crispy sort with spiky leaves. Very fresh.

This one is called Really Red and is not quite big enough to cut yet as it needs to heart up a bit more. But when it does…

This one is my favourite, it’s called Flashy Butter Oak. What a great name? I particularly like the red flecks that look great against the one-colour Lettuces.

I also tried another new variety called Red Iceberg, but unfortunately all of the seedlings succumbed to damping off and keeled over. I’ve resowed in the open ground but the plants are still very small. But hopefully I’ll get to taste one this year.

13 Comments on “This Years Lettuce

  1. These are very beautiful, Gillian. I’d like to know where you get your seeds from, particularly the Really Red, as these would be wonderful planted in patterns! Will you share your source?

  2. Beautiful lettuces, but how do you protect them from the dreaded flea beetle? All my leaves are being ruined by this pest. I’ve grown some in crates which are sitting on tables in a bid to outwit them but to no avail. I have used mesh coverings on my chard and greens but if everything is under cover a) watering gets so fiddly b) the garden doesn’t look that great.

  3. The Butter Oak one looks lovely. I’ve been growing lots of random mixed leaves this year but am ken to actually select some specific varieties in future.

  4. great looking Lettuce i love growing my own they taste so much better than the supermarket and it makes you feel good getting your hands dirty.

  5. The oak leaf lettuce are just simple and fresh and make a great leafy addition to any sandwich.
    Easy to pull direct off the plant and eat – thanks for sharing.

  6. Lovely stuff. I’m growing 3 types of lettuce and rocket as well. It’s great to be able to pluck a few leaves and toss them into a salad. The rocket adds that nice peppery finish. The good news is that nothing has tried to eat my lettuce so far – but then I do have lots of netting and continuously monitor for slugs and other pests.

  7. The really red variety I haven’t seen before. It doesn’t look much like lettuce at all, but then again not many of the “modern” varieties do… How does it taste??

  8. I’ve never heard of Really Red. Where was it from and yes, more importantly what does it taste like?

  9. Look lovely! Must try Reine de Glaces, sounds good. All these types of lettuce is another excellent reason to grow your own vegetables…you’d be hard pushed to find these in the shops!

  10. I must try the Reine de Glaces as that looks so tasty and fresh I could eat my screen right now!! I grow ‘Dazzle’ which is a beetroot red lettuce with a touch of green in the centre and is very much worth a try as it’s very easy (it must be if I grow it). As for flea beetle I think the pigeons eat any around my lettuce while they are nibbling the edges of the Little Gems! 1 for me, 1 for the pigeons, 1 for me……

  11. Really red is a new one for me as well. It looks fabulous in your picture – not sure I could bring myself to eat it, but there again :) If I can get hold of some seeds then I’ll try it in containers on the patio, it looks to good to be hidden away in the vegetable patch!