Description
This collection contains 8 varieties of delicious lettuce starins, including some popular favorites, such as Iceberg and Red Romaine. Lettuce is popularly used in many salads, in pitas and wraps, and is also used as a topping on sandwiches and burgers too. Each seed packet comes with a beautiful illustration on the front side of the packet, as well as detailed seed sowing instructions on the reverse side.
Iceberg Lettuce
Iceberg Lettuce is an heirloom variety, which dates back to the late 1890's. Its crisp leaves range in colors from dark green to light green, sometimes turning almost white as you reach the center. This variety is excellent for salads & fresh burgers, and is one of the most popular selections for many produce markets, & supermarkets alike. It mixes well with Romain, carrots, cabbage and other salad, crop additives. The plants will mature in a matter of 75 days, producing large, 8 to 10 inch, round heads.
Red Romaine Lettuce
Red Romaine is a heirloom variety that has been passed down from generation to generation. Like most lettuce varieties, it goes great in salads, adding a tart flavoring, with a mild crunch. The leaves are green to red, resembling the Lollo rosso variety. Red Romain prefers a cooler season, and will develop the best flavor and color within the Spring season, and in the early Months of Autumn.
Lollo Rosso Lettuce
Lollo Rosso, also known as Lollo Rossa, falls into the loose-leaf variety of lettuce. It has very curly, fan-shaped leaves with bright magenta edges. As the leaves grow to their 5- to 8-inch length, they form a compact rosette. This lettuce has a slightly bitter and nutty flavor, making it the perfect balance for sweeter lettuces or dressings.
Lollo Rosso prefers cooler temperatures of 60 degrees to 65 degrees, and it matures in about 60 days, although you can pick the younger, tender leaves when they reach about 3 inches in length. Be sure to pick the entire outer layer, and your lettuce will continue to grow and produce more leaves for your salads.
Prizehead Lettuce
Prizehead is a heirloom variety that produces loose-leaf heads in a brilliant combination of green and maroon colors. The leaves are tender, with a frilly texture. Prizehead goes great in salads to add a bit of color, before a large meal.
Prizehead Lettuce, like all lettuce is an annual crop. These annuals grow quickly from freshly harvested seeds, producing heads of delicious leafy greens. This variety is best established in early Spring, or in the Autumn season, since it grows best in cooler weather. Prizehead is slow to bolt, but usually bolts quicker with warmer weather.
Parris Island COS Lettuce
Parris Island Cos is a Romaine Lettuce that dates back to the 1950's. It is named after Parris Island, off of the coast of North Carolina. The heads of this lettuce can grow up to 12" tall and are pale green in color. The leaves are tender and the hearts are crunchy. Parris Island Cos is often used in many salds as it provides an excellent crunch. Harvest in roughly 65 to 70 days.
Ruby Red Lettuce
Ruby Red is a delicious heirloom that produces semi crispy, ruby red leafs. The heads form much like romaine, in an upright formation, with its stems leading down to its loose core. Ruby Red is an early variety that is ready for harvesting in roughly 40 to 53 days. It's early harvest makes it a perfect choice for Northern gardens, with shorter growing seasons.
Oakleaf Lettuce
Oakleaf is a great selection to add in a variety of salads. The crops remain tender and tasty throughout heat and drought and are also quite attractive as well. The rosette shaped heads will display tightly packed, green, oak leaf shaped lobes. They grow to a mature height of roughly 8 to 12 inches tall, spreading a good 6 to 12 inches in diameter. Each crop will be ready for harvesting in roughly 30 days for baby sized leaves, and around 60 days for mature leaves.
Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
Dressed simply with a little champagne vinegar and tarragon, Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce makes the perfect springtime salad. With seeds that resemble sesame seeds, this distant relative of the daisy yields sweet, tender leaves about six weeks after planting. Black Seeded Simpson lettuce is high in fiber and an excellent source of potassium, folic acid and vitamins. Cut leaves will keep well in the refrigerator for about 5 days if stored in a plastic bag.
A proven winner, with a delicate flavor and bright green curly leaves, this heirloom variety has been a favorite for over 150 years. Simpson is well adapted to a wide range of climates and is still the best for early spring sowing.