"Jan Flora" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Gary Woods wrote:

Diane M wrote:

I have planted mesclun and romaine, and I'm wondering if I should
cut
off the leaves of the plant now.

The usual method is to keep removing outer leaves, leaving the plant
some
of the newer growth. Minor nit: I thought mesclun was mixed greens,
rather
than a specific variety. I've seen a wide range of greens grown and
leaves
picked while they are pretty small.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at
home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

Mesclun is French for "salad greens."

I do what Gary said -- pick the outer leaves and let the inside leaves
grow more. If you whack the plant off at the base, it's done, IME.

Jan

We have always harvested leaf lettuce by shearing off the tops off with
scissors. One can get 2 or 3 shearings before pulling out the entire
plant. Picking only the outer leaves prolongs the useful life of the
plant but you miss out on the tender tips of the lettuce.

The word "Mesclun" is used in some of the provincial dialects in Southen
France, probably a corruption of the word "Mesclumo" which simply means
"mixture". Mesclun salade is a salad made up of the tender shoots of
mixed salad greens. In the US, the mesclun salads seem to be any
mixture of greens, not just salads made of of tender young plants.

Olin