Every Monday Daphne over at Daphne’s Dandelions hosts Harvest Monday, where those of us who are into such things may take delight in the sharing of our various garden successes. This early in the season, my harvests are rare and tiny… but celebrated all the more in this house because of their rarity. Fresh produce this early in the year tastes like a delicacy to me.
Perhaps these baby lettuce leaves are a delicacy, if you forget the current definition which refers to the costliness of a particular food item and go all the way back to the 1580s, when the term meant “tender loveliness.” That’s a perfect description for this week’s harvest.
From the top: Australian Yellow, Cracoviensis, Drunken Woman, and Speckled Bibb heirloom lettuce leaves.
These tender leaves were snipped from the seedlings that have grown on a corner of our kitchen table since mid-January. I planted them too early for transplanting at the proper stage. (Yes, I was impatient, but the uncooperative weather compounded my mistake.)
The few that first made it outdoors promptly got eaten by the birds. Several more ended up in a terracotta pot which could be yanked indoors when the temperatures dropped into the low 20s, but the birds got them, too. The latest transplants seem to have made it past premature bird-death (Leo killed a feathered interloper yesterday, which made me horribly sad, but just might improve their chances). Yet with a 100% chance of sleet and snow tomorrow, I’m not too confident they’ll survive until Wednesday. Honestly, I’d rather the birds get them so they don’t go to waste.
Most of the remaining seedlings are getting leggy and crowded on the corner of our kitchen table. They’ve become friendly presences by now, quite pretty and with each variety showing off a much more individual personality than in the early days of seedlinghood.
To give you an idea of how F. feels about them, as I got out my scissors, he said, “I can’t watch you mutilate them,” and fled the room.
Australian Yellow, my taste test winner. I prefer to think of her as "Blondie."
I didn’t mutilate them, of course. They just got pruned very precisely. With loose leaf lettuces (all but the Speckled Bibb, where whole plants got thinned instead), one may cut off a few leaves at any time and not prevent the lettuce from continuing to grow and develop normally. In the climate we live in, loose leaf lettuces are the best choice because heading lettuces require cool temperatures to develop their heads.
F. didn’t get this detailed explanation; he was simply told the baby lettuces had had their first haircut and presented with a bowl of salad at dinner.
Counterclockwise from 10 o'clock: Speckled Bibb, Drunken Woman, Cracoviensis, and a hint of Australian Yellow. Click any photo to enlarge.
We had a guest with us, and everyone was asked to identify a favorite lettuce in the evening’s salad and to explain why. We ended up sounding like a bunch of wine-tasters discussing our preferred vintages.
Of course, F. preferred the European heirloom “Cracoviensis.” It’s been his special pet since the start, and as it’s colored up with sunset orange deepening to red and burgundy tones, it’s only gotten more of his attention and approval. We all agreed that it had a wonderful, rich taste and a good texture, however, so I don’t think his choice can be put down to simple prejudice.
Our guest selected the “Speckled Bibb” leaves, claiming she enjoyed their nutty flavor and that their beauty in the salad bowl was unsurpassed. Strangely, I didn’t perceive a nutty flavor (such as one might find in Arugula, for instance), but I had to agree about their attractiveness. Naturally. She and I are both freckled everywhere the sun has ever shone, so we might be biased in favor of this spectacularly spotted green.
My personal favorite, surprisingly, was the “Australian Yellow” variety. The leaves are pretty enough, a bit shimmery and ruffled, exactly the color of the flesh of a cucumber. I’d renamed her ‘Goldilocks’ in a previous post, if you recall, but the nickname didn’t stick. Instead, “Blondie” emerged as her true nickname over time. It definitely matches her vivacious, slightly girly personality.
But I was predisposed to dislike her leaves because they are already showing some signs of tip burn, and I really don’t want the headache of figuring out the cause. None of the other seedlings has this problem, and it’s been worrying me a little.
If the leaves had tasted so-so or even average, I might not have bothered planting any more Australian Yellow. Instead, they were lovely, oh so delicate, and sweet. Their fine texture and flavor stood out beautifully in the mix, especially when paired with the darker taste of the European heirloom Cracoviensis.
For those who don’t know, tip burn is when the edges or margins of a leaf turn brown and basically die. You’ve probably seen this on some lettuce in the grocery store. There is no cure, only preventative measures that may be taken, and the condition appears to be related to a variety of causes, including dry air, calcium deficiency, and the ph of the soil. I’m hoping the problem will be cured by growing this lovely heirloom outdoors, and I plan to direct sow some more of it as soon as conditions are favorable.
You may be wondering why no one had much to say about “Drunken Woman,” the poor dear. Well, my first transplanting experiment was of this variety, and she’s been mostly wiped out by marauding birds and unfriendly weather. There are only four transplants left, and so I cut each of us exactly one leaf to taste. However, it was hard to draw a conclusion based upon a single baby leaf.
We all agreed to withhold judgment until she’s had a chance to grow up a little. Her looks are certainly promising; she’s as ruffled as her Australian counterpart and her base color is even paler, but with a soft wash of bronze shading up and over each leaf as it matures. (No seductive shimmer, though.)
I’m enjoying my new capability at this site, to be able to show off multiple photographs within a post. I do hope you’ve enjoyed it, too, for this edition of Harvest Monday.
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Beautiful salad greens and beautiful pictures, I’m dying for some really nice lettuces now, I’ll have to remember to plant some for next winter if they’ll overwinter here.
mac´s last blog ..Harvest Monday – March 1, 2010
I do hope they will, mac, and I suspect that if cabbages will hold on all winter there, lettuce might make it, too.
How great do those greens look!? I can’t wait to have cut and come lettuce again.
Thank you, Thomas. Any day now, you’re going to be up and running with your impressive seedlings!
I just love how you are a “Lettuce Connoisseur” I hope “F” enjoyed tasting them :^)
Noelle/azplantlady´s last blog ..The Good…The Bad….And The Ugly
Hehehe, we thought it was pretty funny, Noelle, to look up and realize we were talking like that. And F. loved it! He’s so appreciative of fresh produce — unless it’s broccoli.
it is green …. yipee. Oh I am loving this new home. Peace
philip´s last blog ..Awareness
Green indeed, philip. I’ll have several green shots coming up this month, I bet! Thanks for the compliment.
Delicious looking greens! Oh, they are making my mouth water and totally impatient for summer!
Talon´s last blog ..Torture (Fiction: Short Story)
Talon, I can feel your pain. Let us stew in our impatience together. I’m just frustrated that these were grown indoors… not exactly what I was picturing for the early harvests of the year.
What a lovely dinner they made. And delicious, too. I have some pesky insomnia this night and somehow feel inspired to go eat lettuce at 2am now.
Lynn´s last blog ..Diamond dust, collectors and popping in
We thought so, Lynn. I love it when the food looks as good as it tastes; don’t you? (And glad to hear over at your blog that your insomnia got cured.:))
Dear Meredith, How splendid to be having leaves from the garden so early in the season. Your supper sounds delicious with the newly harvested leaves and a simple dressing. I am sure that you must all have enjoyed them enormously.
Edith Hope´s last blog ..Shear Delight
We did enjoy them so much, Edith. Oil and vinegar and some snipped fresh herbs does the trick for fine lettuce leaves like these.
Hello Meredith. I must find out more about this Australian ‘Blondie’ Yellow as I don’t know of her. Is she a type of Cos lettuce? We eat a lot of Cos in our house, but I haven’t experimented with growing any sort of lettuce yet.
Heidi´s last blog ..Aaaaarrrrggggghhh!
Heidi, no, a loose-leaf variety, officially called “Australian Yellow” over here in the seed catalogs. I do hope you can locate her. As she’s an heirloom, that means she’s been grown over a hundred years in your country, and should be well-adapted to local conditions. Not to mention delicious! (And lettuce is much easier to grow than tomatoes, so you’ll do fine.)
Thanks for the extra info Meredith, I’m going to try to track her down!
Heidi´s last blog ..Aaaaarrrrggggghhh!
I love your description of the lettuce. I taste tested my lettuce last year too and found Deertongue to be my favorite. I was predisposed to dislike it too. I wasn’t in love with the shape or how it grew, but oh was it good.
Daphne´s last blog ..Get Growing in March
Daphne, I’m glad you wrote that comment because I have seed for Deer Tongue, but it didn’t seem too exciting… and now I’ll have to tuck some plants of it into the beds. (I’ve decided to direct-seed all of the other varieties I have.)
I love the way your lettuces look! I think you’ve done a great job with them. I like growing “Blondie” too, though I’ve noticed it didn’t seem quite as hardy as some. Still, it’s worth growing for those lovely tender leaves. So many lettuces, so little time……
Thanks, villager. I appreciate the compliment. Your lettuces always blow me away.
LOL to “so many lettuces, so little time.” I agree 100%.
Oh yum, Meredith … where is my fork!
joey´s last blog ..WELCOME MARCH & MONDAY MUSE DAY! (FLOWER of the MONTH ~ DAFFODIL)
Joey, it’s over here at your place setting. Lettuce is so easy to grow, I feel I should be distributing lettuces for all.
What a lovely selection of exotic lettuces. Your selections make mine look downright pedestrian. I have red sails, red salad bowl, lolla rossa, green oakleaf and black-seeded simpson. It all tastes like lettuce to me. My favorite is the black-seeded Simpson, which is a beautiful lime color, stays tender, and is slow to bolt.
Lou Murray’s Green World´s last blog ..Harvest and planting Monday, March 1, 2010
Lou, it sounds like you are going with the tried and true. They don’t sound pedestrian to me! Have you seen Lollo Rossa? She’s gorgeous. I have seed for black-seeded Simpson, but was planning to try it in the fall… perhaps I should break open the seed packet in a couple of weeks instead.
Enjoyed your post Meredith – that salad looks most delicious – off to see if I can locate
‘Speckled Bibb’ on this side of the pond.
Anna´s last blog ..My Pride And Joy