An invaluable hardy winter salad for growing outdoors and under cover with a superb nutty flavour. Corn salad or lamb’s lettuce is a small annual plant that forms rosettes of dark green leaves which have a gentle nutty flavour, soft texture, and are extremely popular as salad greens.
Seed Sowing
Sow corn salad between July and October for autumn, winter and early spring harvests. Seeds germinate best in cool, moist soil (5-15°C), but be patient – they can take up to 12 days to sprout. Sow in shallow drills or broadcast and cover lightly with soil. Ensure continuous harvest by sowing every 2-4 weeks.
Transplanting
Plant out from modules once seedlings are established, spacing plants 25cm apart. It requires little to no protection from the cold so can be grown both outdoors or under cover.
Plant Care
Keep the area weed-free and consistently watered during hot spells to reduce risk of bolting. You can mulch around the plants to keep in moisture and prevent weeds. Corn Salad is frost hardy and suitable for growing outdoors with little protection or under cover in the cold.
Challenges
Generally pest and disease-free, things to look out for are slugs or powdery mildew.
Harvest
You can either cut the whole plant at the base once 6-8 leaves have formed or pick a few of the outer leaves from each plant to encourage regrowth.
We were surprised by just how hardy Corn Salad was in our winter garden – we feel it’s a must have addition to any veg patch for the simple joy of being able to do outdoor harvests all winter long.
Culinary Ideas And Uses
Corn Salad has a superb nutty flavour and is great raw on its own with a lemon balsamic dressing or mixed into a salad with Claytonia, oriental leaves and winter lettuce. It is a good source of Vitamin A, C, B6, Iron, Phosphorus and Potassium.
Seed Saving
Choose plants that are true to type, healthy and have shown pest resistance. Avoid early bolters.
Allow plants to flower and produce seed pods that will begin to dry. Pull up entire plants and hang upside down, laying a sheet underneath to catch the seeds. Winnow any extra plant material and allow the seeds to dry further in a warm, dry space for a few more days.
Store in a cool dark place; seeds should remain viable for around 5 years.
Most popular Other Salad Leaves
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Salad rocket (Organic)
£1.80 – £3.50 Add to basket This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageSalad rocket (Organic)
Salad leaf with a peppery fresh taste, most commonly used raw but can be cooked, too. The nutritious dark green serrated leaves add their fine spice to salads, pasta, pizza, pesto, other sauces or as garnish. Salad rocket is native to the Mediterranean and has a long history of popularity. It is quick to crop and easy to grow and definitely one of our favourite salad leaves.
(Approximate seed count – 900)
£1.80 – £3.50 -
Corn Salad / Lamb’s Lettuce – (Organic)
£1.90 – £3.20 Add to basket This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pageCorn Salad / Lamb’s Lettuce – (Organic)
An invaluable hardy winter salad for growing outdoors and under cover with a superb nutty flavour. Corn salad or lamb’s lettuce is a small annual plant that forms rosettes of dark green leaves which have a gentle nutty flavour, soft texture, and are extremely popular as salad greens. It provides a valuable source of fresh greens during the autumn and winter months as it is suitable for growing outdoors with little protection or under cover in the cold.
We are amazed by this plant’s hardiness and really enjoy growing it! Ronja grew up eating ‘Feldsalat’ (German for corn salad) almost every day during the winter months and wouldn’t want to live without it.
£1.90 – £3.20 -
Claytonia ‘Winter Purslane’ – (Organic)
£1.85 Add to basketClaytonia ‘Winter Purslane’ – (Organic)
A must-have excellent winter leaf of mild flavour and incredibly succulent, soft and juicy texture.. Winter purslane, also known as miners lettuce or claytonia, has heart-shaped elegant looking leaves which are small, abundant and make a great cut-and-come-again salad green. You will get a productive harvest all winter and early spring and if left to self seed, it will just keep coming back year after year.
It is one of those greens that come up in just the right moment when we’re most in need of something fresh and it self-manages very well which is why we like it too.
(Approximate seed count – 850)£1.85 -
Wild Rocket (Organic)
£1.80 Add to basketWild Rocket (Organic)
Delicious and spicy serrated leaves, smaller and more delicate than their cultivated cousin. We love wild rocket as it just keeps on giving, even once it is going to seed it continues to produce new leaf growth if you cut it back.
(Approximate seed count – 500)£1.80
