Lactuca sativa 'Justine'

The 'Justine' Cos Lettuce is a heat-tolerant variety that resists bolting, making it suitable for summer cultivation. Its head is dense and its leaves are tender, of good taste quality, equally delicious in salads or braised as a garnish. They are slightly crinkled and have a light green colour. It can be sown from April to July for a harvest from July to October.

Lettuce is one of the most popular vegetables (4.2 kilograms per person per year) thanks to its freshness, crunchiness, and nutritional qualities. It can be consumed raw in salads, but also cooked, for example, to accompany peas.

As the quintessential leaf vegetable, Lettuce is an annual plant belonging to the large Asteraceae family. Its Latin name, Lactuca sativa, refers both to the white sap (lactuca) that flows when it is cut and to the fact that it is cultivated (sativa).

It is an essential vegetable in any respectable vegetable garden, and there are so many varieties that it can be grown almost all year round.

Lettuce cultivation is easy as long as the planting calendar for each variety is respected. It grows quickly and thrives in any soil, as long as it is rich and remains moist.

Harvest: It is simply done with a knife when it reaches maturity.

Storage: Lettuce can be stored for a few days in the refrigerator, but to enjoy its freshness to the fullest, we recommend consuming it immediately after harvesting.

Gardener's tip: A true nightmare for gardeners, slugs and snails love lettuce leaves. When the hunt is on, it must be admitted that we are ready to do anything to repel or eliminate them: the ash string (which will be quickly leached by rain), the homemade trap filled with beer (which hedgehogs get drunk on until they reach alcoholic coma), the copper bands supposed to electrocute them (which tickle them a little)...

Instead of wasting your time and, incidentally, your salads, we recommend using an anti-slug product composed of ferric phosphate known as Ferramol. Unlike slug killers based on metaldehyde, which are dangerous for wildlife and polluting, Ferramol is natural, non-toxic, and very effective as long as you remember to "treat" your plot a few days before sowing.

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