Lactuca sativa 'Gustav's Salad'

The 'Gustav's Salad' Lettuce comes to us from the southern Dutch islands. Gustav was a resident of these islands who developed his own variety and then cultivated it for over 40 years to offer it to the residents and tables of his village. It is a tender lettuce with a very mild taste, with a beautiful compact appearance. It can be sown from March to May directly in the vegetable garden to be harvested from May to October.

If Lettuce is one of the most popular vegetables (4.2 kilograms are consumed per person per year), it is as much for its freshness, crispness as for its taste and nutritional qualities. It can be consumed raw, in salads, but also cooked, to accompany peas, for example.

Lettuce is the ultimate leafy vegetable, an annual plant belonging to the large Asteraceae family. Its Latin name, Lactuca sativa, refers both to the white sap (lactuca) that flows when it is cut and to the fact that it is cultivated (sativa).

It is an essential vegetable in any respectable vegetable garden and there are so many varieties that it can be cultivated almost all year round.

Growing Lettuce is easy as long as you respect the cultivation calendar for each variety. It grows quickly and thrives in any soil, provided it is rich and remains moist.

Harvesting: It is simply done with a knife when it reaches maturity.

Storage: Lettuce can be stored for a few days in the refrigerator, but to make the most of its freshness, we recommend consuming it immediately after harvesting.

Gardener's tip: A real nightmare for gardeners, slugs and snails love lettuce leaves. When the hunt is on, it must be admitted that we are ready to do anything to repel or eliminate them: the ash string (which will be quickly leached by rain), the homemade trap filled with beer (which hedgehogs get drunk on until they pass out), the copper strips supposed to electrocute them (which tickle them a bit)...

Instead of wasting your time and, incidentally, your salads, we recommend using an anti-slug product composed of ferric phosphate known as Ferramol. Unlike slug repellents based on metaldehyde, which are dangerous for wildlife and polluting, Ferramol is natural, non-toxic and very effective as long as you remember to "treat" your plot a few days before sowing.

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