Lambs Lettuce Verte dEtampes

'Verte d’Etampes' Lamb's lettuce is a traditional, popular French heirloom. This productive, hardy variety produces dense rosettes of thick, tasty dark green leaves. Sow from August to October and harvest from September to March.

Lamb's lettuce, also known as Corn salad or Mâche, is a small lettuce type vegetable belonging to the Caprifoliaceae family (like Honeysuckle). It forms rosettes of rounded leaves and can be found growing wild throughout Europe (where it is sometimes thought of as a weed!). Although some varieties can be sown and harvested all year-round, lamb's lettuce is generally harvested during the autumn and winter months when other salad greens are scarce. Large-seeded varieties have bigger leaves but are less cold-resistant than the smaller-seeded varieties. Lamb's lettuce has a tender texture and a mild, slightly nutty flavour. It is delicious eaten raw in winter salads and can also be cooked like spinach. It is low in calories and very healthy thanks to its high vitamin E, beta-carotene and vitamin C content (three times more than lettuce).

Lamb's lettuce is easy to grow. Make sure to firm down the soil after sowing and to maintain constant soil moisture.

Harvesting: harvest as and when required by cutting the rosettes of leaves off at their base.

Storage: lamb's lettuce will keep for a few days in the refrigerator.

Good to know: Lamb's lettuce self-seeds easily. Leave a few rosettes to go to seed in the spring for effortless crops year after year!