Quick start ⚡ Quick start info sowing lamb's lettuce ⚡
🌱 Sowing & planting
Lamb's lettuce ( Valerianella locusta ) is a cold-loving leaf vegetable from the valerian family. Ideal for autumn, winter and early spring cultivation.
- Sowing depth: approximately 1 cm.
- Sowing method: lamb's lettuce is sown directly in the open ground or under cold glass.
- Sowing distance: 5 cm between plants and 15 cm between rows.
- Germination temperature: around 10 °C.
- Germination time: 🕒 6–12 days.
- Growth cycle: approximately 80 days to full rosette, but you can often pick earlier.
📅 Growing times throughout the year
- Open ground: sow outdoors in August–September; harvest from mid-September to January.
- Cold glass – early cultivation: sow under cold glass mid-January–February; harvest in April.
- Cold glass – late cultivation: sow under cold glass September–mid-October; harvest from mid-November to the end of March.
Moisten the seedbed well and cover it with moist jute bags if necessary. This helps prevent dehydration during germination. After emergence, you can lightly dust the bed with lime.
Introduction to sowing lamb's lettuce
I often get the question via chat or email: "Tom, have you had any success sowing lamb's lettuce and could you make an article or video about it?" I have to admit, my lamb's lettuce trophy cabinet is rather poor. I've sown lamb's lettuce before, but with moderate success. I haven't had much of a harvest of this crop on my plate yet, especially compared to mustard lettuce, arugula, lettuce, winter purslane, spinach, and so on, all of which I've already brought into the kitchen in abundance. Because I really enjoy the distinctive nutty flavor of lamb's lettuce, I started looking into growing lamb's lettuce—lamb's lettuce in English and mâche in French. I've come across a few things I'm doing wrong. Below, you'll find a growing guide for lamb's lettuce. Perhaps you'll find the key to making yours a successful crop too.
A little more about the lamb's lettuce plant
Lamb's lettuce is a cold-season crop; if you wanted to grow this crisp, delicious leaf in the summer, it wouldn't be a success. It's better to grow leafy greens in spring and autumn, or throughout the winter in a polytunnel . Greenhouse or greenhouse . Lamb's lettuce belongs to the valerian family; no other common vegetable I know belongs to that family. Finally, I'd also like to mention that lamb's lettuce is packed with vitamin C, the antioxidant that boosts our immunity and also keeps our blood pressure levels in check. So, it's very healthy to have this vegetable on hand during the winter.
