Lactuca sativa longifolia 'Little Gem Pinilla'

The 'Little Gem Pinilla' Lettuce is a frost and disease-resistant variety. It is a miniature lettuce, halfway between romaine and butterhead, similar to sucrine, with a delicious sweet flavour that will delight gourmets. It produces a compact and very firm heart, cream-coloured, measuring about 10cm (4in) in diameter and 15cm (6in) in height. It can be sown and harvested in winter and in a cold greenhouse. Outside of this period, it can be sown directly in the ground to be harvested in spring or autumn.

If lettuce is one of the most popular vegetables (4.2 kilos per person per year), it is because of its freshness, crunchiness, as well as its taste and nutritional qualities. It can be consumed raw in salads, but also cooked, to accompany peas, for example.

As the ultimate leafy 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.

The cultivation of lettuce is easy as long as you follow the cultivation calendar for each variety. 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 in the refrigerator for a few days, but to enjoy its freshness to the fullest, we recommend consuming it immediately after harvesting.

Gardener's tip: A real nightmare for gardeners, slugs and snails love lettuce leaves. When the hunt is on, we are willing to do anything to repel or eliminate them: the line of ash (which will quickly be washed away by rain), the homemade trap filled with beer (which hedgehogs get drunk on until they are in an alcoholic coma), the copper bands that are 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 metaldehyde-based slug killers, which are harmful to 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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