Lettuce is a leaf vegetable that we are all very familiar with. Lettuce was first cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, who turned it from a weed, whose seeds were used to produce oil, into a plant grown for its leaves. Lettuce spread to the Greeks and Romans, who gave it the name ´lactuca´, from which the English lettuce is derived.
There are many different varieties of lettuce. Lettuce grows almost year round, when the temperature is not too high. High temperatures cause the plant to flower and set seed. The following varieties we have in the garden this spring:
The Iceberg
lettuce
is well known for its crispy texture and slightly sweet taste. Although the
head keeps well for a week after harvesting, the cut surface and any small
damage will color brown after a few hours. Leaves that have suffered some
damage you can remove, the underlying leaves will look fresh and green. It is,
however, important to handle iceberg lettuce carefully in order to avoid
discoloration.
Oak leaf lettuce is a beautiful lettuce,
which grows very well in the Extremadura. The leaves look like oak leaves in autumn. They are reddish brown on the edges and fresh green at the base. This lettuce is quite crisp, with a soft nutty taste..JPG)
The lettuce variety ‘quatro estaciones’ has a deep red color on the outside of the head
and light green on the inside. It is a lettuce variety that can be grown throughout
the year, but is on its best at the end of winter and beginning of spring.
Romaine or cos lettuce is a crisp variety that is either sold as an open head or as a light green center. The latter is achieved by tying a band on the growing plant. After harvesting the dark outer leaves are removed, leaving a light green lettuce, firmly packed. Romaine is the main ingredient of Cesar Salad. 
The
variety ‘Reina de Mayo’ is a
butter-head type of lettuce and is a typical lettuce of late spring (as the name
suggest). The tender leaves form a loose head and have a soft buttery flavor.The last lettuce variety I want to mention is a local variety. A friendly neighbour gave us the seedlings. Since people have been growing improved lettuce varieties next to their indigenous variety, the lettuce shows many forms and colors. There are however two primary types to be recognized: the open head type and the closed head type. Both types you see below
Although there are many more lettuce varieties, these six are currently grown in our gardens. Except for the iceberg lettuce, which is best eaten when matured, the young leaves of plants are excellent in a salad mix. From every crop that we sow, we offer a part for sale in a salad mix. The rest is transplanted and harvested when mature.
There
is one salad type vegetable that is often confused with lettuce, the Frisée.
Frisée is a type of endive (or chicory), i.e. curly endive. Endive has a
slightly bitter taste and complements the taste of other lettuces well. It can
also be cooked or stir fried like spinach. The bitter taste will be more
pronounced when cooked. All lettuce varieties do well when combined. You can use the young or baby leaves or the crispy leaves in the center of lettuces. If you want to vary your salads you can add spinach leaves, young swiss chard, (red) cabbage and or carrots.
