6 varieties of lamb's lettuce to grow in the vegetable garden

The Coquille de Louviers with spoon-shaped leaves

The Coquille de Louviers lamb’s lettuce is a very old variety originating, as its name suggests, from Louviers, a town in Normandy located in the Eure departmen in France. It is easily recognised by its small, round, curled leaves that form spoon-like shapes. Another characteristic of this lamb’s lettuce is its colour: the leaves of the Coquille de Louviers are a beautiful dark green. They also form a small rosette.

The Coquille de Louviers lamb’s lettuce

The Coquille de Louviers lamb’s lettuce is considered by enthusiasts to be one of the best lamb’s lettuces: its leaves have a very mild nutty flavour, delicious in salads, and a fine, smooth texture. They are delicately crunchy.

In the vegetable garden, the Coquille de Louviers proves to be very cold-resistant and particularly early.

It is a small-seeded variety of lamb’s lettuce, so sowing takes place from July to the end of August for a harvest from October to spring.

Hollander large-seeded lamb's lettuce, resistant to everything

La Dutch lamb’s lettuce features beautiful, long, wide, and slightly flattened leaves of a lovely grey-green. When tasted, these leaves are found to be very tender. Their texture is less crunchy than that of the small-seeded varieties, and their flavour is truly delicious. As it is a large-seeded variety, it is harvested before winter as it is significantly less resistant to cold and frost.

The Dutch lamb’s lettuce

Therefore, Dutch lamb’s lettuce is a variety to reserve for the first sowings of the season. It is a particularly early and vigorous variety that is resistant to diseases such as grey mould. It is also suitable for cultivation in a cold greenhouse.

Dutch lamb’s lettuce is sown from mid-July to mid-August for a harvest in September or October.

Gala lamb's lettuce

This variety of corn salad possesses all the qualities that a gardener can rightfully expect. An improvement on the Verte de Cambrai, the Gala corn salad is indeed a generous variety as it is highly productive. It produces beautiful, compact rosettes with broad, semi-round, and vibrant green leaves. Furthermore, it is a variety that can be sown over a very long period and is very accommodating in terms of cultivation. Early and vigorous, it is quite flexible and grows easily. This corn salad is also resistant to downy mildew.

The Gala corn salad

As for its taste quality, it is undeniable. Its leaves are characterised by a delicately sweet flavour, in contrast to some varieties of corn salad that are more pronounced in bitterness.

This corn salad is ideal for an amateur gardener who can sow it practically all year round, in open ground, under frames, or in a greenhouse. However, the ideal period remains from late July to late October for a harvest from September to March.

The highly productive Ronde Maraîchère

The Ronde Maraîchère corn salad is part of this category of corn salads known for their productivity and earliness. Fast-growing, it produces tight rosettes of rounded leaves in a lovely dark green. The clumps of leaves have an upright habit, making harvesting easier.

Relatively cold-resistant, this corn salad is sown from August to October for a harvest until the end of winter.

The Cambrai Green, late but tasty

This late variety of corn salad is sown a little later than other varieties but produces leaves that are particularly resistant to low temperatures. The Verte de Cambrai is a corn salad with flat, smooth leaves that are rather wide and well-rounded, displaying a beautiful dark green colour. It is a traditional variety, originating from the North of France, where gardeners appreciate it for its hardiness.

The Verte de Cambrai corn salad (©La ferme de Sainte-Marthe)

It boasts a very good yield and rapid growth. It is renowned for its taste quality: its flavour is mild, and its texture is tender and delicate.

Sowing of the Verte de Cambrai generally takes place in September, or even in October. As for the harvest, it will occur from November to March.

Lamb's Lettuce Green Hearted, a generous variety

This very old variety of lamb’s lettuce is also known by the names of Green Lamb’s Lettuce with Small Heart or Green Lamb’s Lettuce from Chevreuse. As its name suggests, the Green Lamb’s Lettuce with Full Heart is a generous variety that produces compact tufts with a heart filled with short, rounded leaves. The leaves have a smooth appearance, with few veins, and an upright habit. Their colour is also characteristic of a magnificent, very intense green.

It is a hardy variety that is sown relatively late, from late August to October, for a harvest that spans from autumn to spring. It also has a certain capacity for regrowth.