Lamb's lettuce, also called corn salad or mâche, is the winter green par excellence. When the summer crops are cleared and the beds lie empty, it fills the gap and supplies fresh, nutty-tasting rosettes into spring, often in the middle of winter.
Yet many fail with it, and almost always for the same reason: the wrong sowing time. Whoever treats lamb's lettuce like summer lettuce and sows it in high summer meets with disappointment. This article shows you when and how the sowing really succeeds.
The gap-filler for empty beds
Lamb's lettuce is the perfect latecomer in the garden year. As soon as a bed comes free after potatoes, beans or onions, you can sow lamb's lettuce there. It uses the residual warmth of the soil to germinate and then grows slowly into the winter.
Its greatest advantage is its winter hardiness. While almost everything else has long since frozen, the lamb's lettuce stands green in the bed and can be harvested even under snow. A little brushwood or fleece in hard frost protects the leaves additionally.
Why the sowing often fails
The decisive point is the germination temperature. Lamb's lettuce is a cold germinator: above about 18 to 20 degrees soil temperature it germinates only sluggishly and patchily. Whoever sows into dry soil in the hot August often waits in vain.
The solution is simple: sow only once the greatest heat is over, and keep the seedbed evenly moist. With early sowing it helps to water the drill before sowing and to shade the bed with a board or fleece until the seedlings appear.
Why lamb's lettuce is worth it
- Uses empty beds
It comes exactly when the summer crops are cleared. No bed has to lie fallow over winter.
- Extremely winter-hardy
Lamb's lettuce survives frost and snow and can be harvested fresh all winter. Fresh greens when there are none otherwise.
- Easy-care and undemanding
Once germinated, it needs hardly any care, little water and no fertiliser. A rewarding vegetable for beginners.
- Good follow-on crop
As a gap-filler it fits almost any crop rotation and keeps the soil covered and alive over winter.
How you sow lamb's lettuce
Clear the bed after the summer crop
As soon as a bed comes free, loosen the soil shallowly and level it. Lamb's lettuce needs no freshly fertilised soil.
Sow from August to October
Sow into shallow rows about 10 to 15 centimetres apart and cover only thinly with soil. In heat, shade the bed.
Keep moist until germination
The be-all and end-all: the seed must stay evenly moist until the seedlings stand. After that lamb's lettuce gets by on little water.
Harvest from autumn to spring
Cut the whole rosette with a knife just above the ground. Over winter fresh supply keeps growing.
Not in high summer but from late summer, kept cool and moist. Then the empty bed carries fresh greens all winter.
The core rule for lamb's lettuce
Frequently asked questions
When do you sow lamb's lettuce?
From August into October, once the greatest summer heat is over. Lamb's lettuce is a cold germinator and germinates poorly above about 18 degrees soil temperature. Sowing too early in the hot high summer is the most common reason for failure.
Why does my lamb's lettuce not germinate?
Usually it was too warm or too dry. Above 18 to 20 degrees lamb's lettuce germinates only sluggishly. Water the drill before sowing, keep it moist and shade the bed in heat with a board or fleece until the seedlings appear.
Is lamb's lettuce winter-hardy?
Yes, very. Lamb's lettuce survives frost and snow easily and can be harvested fresh all winter. In hard bare frost a thin layer of brushwood or fleece protects the leaves additionally.
How do you harvest lamb's lettuce correctly?
Cut the whole rosette with a knife just above the ground rather than plucking single leaves. That keeps the rosette clean and you harvest it in one piece. Over winter new plants keep growing.
Does lamb's lettuce need fertilised soil?
No, on the contrary. Lamb's lettuce is undemanding and does best on the residual fertility after a summer crop. Fresh fertiliser is unnecessary and can make the leaves store needless nitrate. A loose, weed-free bed is entirely enough.
