Growing corn lettuce (lamb’s lettuce) in the home garden is less popular because it is a lesser-known leafy vegetable.
It grows wild in many parts of Europe, North Africa and West Asia and is considered a weed in some areas. It is a common weed, especially in Europe and Asia, in cultivated land and wasteland.
corn salad (Valerian locusta) is actually a small annual plant with a distinctive nutty taste, dark green color, and soft texture.
It is also known by many other names in many parts of the world. Other names for lamb’s lettuce include mache, douset, raypons, rapunzel, field lettuce, nut lettuce, feldsalad, corn lettuce, fruit lettuce, lamb’s lettuce, etc.
Lamb’s lettuce is rich in nutrients, like other once-grown green vegetables. It contains three times more vitamin C than lettuce, beta-carotene, B6, potassium and iron.
The leaves are small but juicy and tasty. It is very good on its own or mixed with other green salads.
You can enjoy this wonderful vegetable if you start growing corn lettuce in your garden. Plants grow faster and are ready to harvest within 40-60 days of planting.
How to Grow Corn Lettuce
Growing corn salad in your garden is very easy. It grows very quickly in the wild and is considered a weed in many areas.
However, here we describe more information about growing corn lettuce in the vegetable garden from planting, from care to harvest.
Collect/buy seeds
First, collect seeds from the market or from one of your friends. You can also harvest seeds from wild plants if you spot them anywhere in your area.
Best time to grow corn lettuce
Corn salads are very hardy and are actually grown as winter vegetables.
To grow corn lettuce in your garden, you can sow the seeds in early spring for fall and winter harvest. The ideal temperature for growing lamb’s lettuce is between 5 and 18°C.
Soil selection and preparation
Choose a good place to grow corn lettuce. In fact, it can be grown in both full sun and partial shade.
The bright sun will help warm the soil and lift the plants, especially in the spring.
And plants will appreciate partial shade as the days get warmer, especially during the day.
After choosing a site in your garden, you need to prepare the soil. Before sowing the seeds, work the soil and add organic matter.
Corn lettuce actually grows just about anywhere, but will grow best if the soil is rich in organic matter.
planting
Corn salad is grown from seed. You can grow plants by sowing seeds directly into the ground or in rows.
If you sow seeds directly into the ground, do so in early spring. If planting in rows, the rows should be 10 to 12 inches apart.
After marking several rows in the prepared bed, sow the seeds at the rate of 3 seeds per inch and no more than 1/4 inch deep.
You should thin the seedlings to about 2 inches apart. Corn lettuce seeds generally germinate best in cool, moist soil and usually germinate in 7 to 21 days.
Care
Extra care after sowing the seeds will ensure better plant growth. Although corn lettuce plants do not require much care and maintenance.
They actively grow in almost any soil, like many weeds. Plants will grow well if well watered and free of weeds.
Harvest
You can assemble corn salad like lettuce. First remove the outer leaves when they are about 3 inches long.
Carefully gather small clusters of leaves and cut them with a sharp knife 1-2 inches above the ground so the plants can regrow.
You can also sow the seeds very thickly and gradually thin the plants over winter by cutting them along the soil line.
Lamb’s lettuce is usually eaten fresh (with a very light dressing) and is described as having a nutty flavor. You can also heat and dry the leaves in salads or as a side dish.
These are common ways to grow corn lettuce in your garden. I hope you learned a lot and enjoyed this guide! Happy gardening 🙂
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