"Pat Kiewicz" wrote in message
...
Emmet Cummings said:

Well, I'm sure my palate has room for expansion; however, I do like the
crunchiness of the iceberg variety.

Then you should consider the Batavian (also called French crisp or summer
crisp)
'loose head' varieties. They have many of the advantages of leaf lettuces
(including having more nutritional value), but have a texture more like
iceberg.

'Sierra' and 'Nevada' are widely available. (May I recommend Pinetree
Garden
Seeds as a mail-order source: http://www.superseeds.com -- look in the
French vegetables section.)

Thanks for the source, Pat, although I'm a little leary of all the 'French'
references.
Maybe if it was renamed 'Freedom' I might be a little more inclined

Rob

I liked the website -- its got 52 varieties of lettuce; some looks like
weeds I've pulled up in the past.

I -used- to mow the tall dandelions in the alley. Never again!

Bill

I don't think I'm quite ready to begin foraging for dandelions yet!

Rob

On Sun, 06 Jul 2003 17:02:23 GMT, "Emmet Cummings"
wrote:

I liked the website -- its got 52 varieties of lettuce; some looks like
weeds I've pulled up in the past.

I -used- to mow the tall dandelions in the alley. Never again!

Bill

I don't think I'm quite ready to begin foraging for dandelions yet!


I wouldn't need to forage very far: our own yard supplies
lots of them!

Pat

I have over a dozen heads of Iceberg Lettuce with about half having
formed
a
head. Now that
temperatures seemed to have settled in the eighties and sometimes
nineties
here in NYC should I
start harvesting? I read that sometimes the lettuce can get bitter?

I'd certainly start harvesting. I read somewhere (can't quite pull where
out of my addled brain) that bolting has less to do with heat and more
with
light. You might want to try that on one or two heads, consider putting a
paper bag over them after an hour or two of morning sun. Might work,
might
not.

Philip

If I can't find any paper bags, will a staw hat do

Rob

Emmet Cummings wrote:


"Noydb" wrote in message
...
Emmet Cummings wrote:

Well, I'm sure my palate has room for expansion; however, I do like the
crunchiness of the iceberg variety.


Life begins with a salad of early spinach, dandelion greens, chives and
young onions. Add a dollop of Caeser dressing and prepare to shame the
rabbits.

Then too, there's a lot to be said for what is sometimes called "Wilted
lettuce" salad ... black seeded simpson tossed in a bowl with some thinly
sliced onions, a splash of red wine vinegar, crumbled freshly cooked
bacon,
an optional pinch of granulated sugar and the hot grease off the bacon.

Sound good except for maybe the sugar and the grease, then again anything
with bacon has got something going for it.


The missus and I (she's from Brooklyn,NY by way of connection)have been
raiding the mesclun mix greens almost daily for a simple salad of just
greens and a dressing of some sort.

mesclun mix greens, what's dat?(my best Brooklynese)

Rob
The missus & I eat almost no pork or fats or even, for that matter, any sort
of 4 legged meat, so the bacon grease is an affordable luxury. This salad
is a family recipe which, due to the dearth of black seeded simpson lettuce
in the commercial markets, is a privelege restricted to only those who have
the foresight to plant their own garden. :-)

Mesclun mix is a mixture of lettuces and European salad greens (cilantro,
for example) that grow well together and provide a 'ready mixed' salad
right out of the garden. There must be eight or ten varieties in it but I
only recognize a few ... oak leaf lettuce, some sort of bibb lettuce and
the afore-mentioned cilantro.

Bill
--
Zone 5b (Detroit, MI)
I do not post my address to news groups.

Emmet Cummings wrote:

I liked the website -- its got 52 varieties of lettuce; some looks like
weeds I've pulled up in the past.

I -used- to mow the tall dandelions in the alley. Never again!

Bill

I don't think I'm quite ready to begin foraging for dandelions yet!

Rob


That's what I said until I bought a bunch from the local green-grocers and
tasted the salad they make. From now on, I forage. (Actually, since they
come up from hardy roots, I can't call it foraging because I already know
where the good ones are growing. From now on, it's called 'harvesting'.

These are dandelion with leaves nearly 12" long that have not put up a seed
stalk yet. My information is that they get bitter after the seed stalk
comes up.

Bill


--
Zone 5b (Detroit, MI)
I do not post my address to news groups.

The missus and I (she's from Brooklyn,NY by way of connection)have been
raiding the mesclun mix greens almost daily for a simple salad of just
greens and a dressing of some sort.

mesclun mix greens, what's dat?(my best Brooklynese)

Rob
The missus & I eat almost no pork or fats or even, for that matter, any
sort
of 4 legged meat, so the bacon grease is an affordable luxury. This salad
is a family recipe which, due to the dearth of black seeded simpson
lettuce
in the commercial markets, is a privelege restricted to only those who
have
the foresight to plant their own garden. :-)

Mesclun mix is a mixture of lettuces and European salad greens (cilantro,
for example) that grow well together and provide a 'ready mixed' salad
right out of the garden. There must be eight or ten varieties in it but I
only recognize a few ... oak leaf lettuce, some sort of bibb lettuce and
the afore-mentioned cilantro.

A veritable salad in the garden. I like the idea. Thanks for the
explanation.

Rob

I -used- to mow the tall dandelions in the alley. Never again!

Bill

I don't think I'm quite ready to begin foraging for dandelions yet!

Rob


That's what I said until I bought a bunch from the local green-grocers and
tasted the salad they make. From now on, I forage. (Actually, since they
come up from hardy roots, I can't call it foraging because I already know
where the good ones are growing. From now on, it's called 'harvesting'.

You know I can't remember seeing one in my backyard(then again my yard isn't
that large). Do
you think they're still good if they come up through the cracks in the
sidewalk?

These are dandelion with leaves nearly 12" long that have not put up a
seed
stalk yet. My information is that they get bitter after the seed stalk
comes up.

I was leafing through a health store catelog the other day and saw them
selling dandelions roots.
So don't stop at the leaves

Rob

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 03:34:49 GMT, "Emmet Cummings"
wrote:

Mesclun mix is a mixture of lettuces and European salad greens (cilantro,
for example) that grow well together and provide a 'ready mixed' salad
right out of the garden. There must be eight or ten varieties in it but I
only recognize a few ... oak leaf lettuce, some sort of bibb lettuce and
the afore-mentioned cilantro.

A veritable salad in the garden. I like the idea. Thanks for the
explanation.


I don't think there's any set formula for mesclun mix.

I bought seeds called 'mesclun mix' from Pinetree Garden
Seeds, but they're just several types of lettuce.

Other greens for possible inclusion would be mizuna,
raddicchio, chicory, curly endive, arugala, other Asian
greens especially when young. I'm growing a Japanese plant
called Vitaminna that would be a good thing for adding to a
mesclun mix, for example.

Edible flowers would be nice too.

I've never been certain if arugala and raddicchio are the
same thing or different. Anyone know?

Pat

In article ,
says...
Other greens for possible inclusion would be mizuna,
raddicchio, chicory, curly endive, arugala, other Asian
greens especially when young. I'm growing a Japanese plant
called Vitaminna that would be a good thing for adding to a
mesclun mix, for example.

And don't forget mustard greens! We tried them for the first time this
year and liked them.

And orach (both green and red) has been a salad staple at our house for
years.

--
Where ARE those Iraqi WMDs?

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 09:08:58 -0700, Larry Blanchard
wrote:

In article ,
says...
Other greens for possible inclusion would be mizuna,
raddicchio, chicory, curly endive, arugala, other Asian
greens especially when young. I'm growing a Japanese plant
called Vitaminna that would be a good thing for adding to a
mesclun mix, for example.

And don't forget mustard greens! We tried them for the first time this
year and liked them.

And orach (both green and red) has been a salad staple at our house for
years.

I've never grown orach but intend to try it next year.

This year, for an exotic spinach, I am growing Malabar
Spinach. It's been growing well since our cool spring
monsoon weather turned into hot summer weather.

But I find that I do not like it, I don't like the taste or
the texture. So I won't grow it again.

Pat

In article ,
says...
This year, for an exotic spinach, I am growing Malabar
Spinach. It's been growing well since our cool spring
monsoon weather turned into hot summer weather.

But I find that I do not like it, I don't like the taste or
the texture. So I won't grow it again.


I've tried a lot of spinach substitutes and haven't really found one
either of us likes. This year I tried Good King Henry (or Lincolnshire
spinach) and it may have some possibilities if I can get it to germinate.
I planted several seeds in each of several starter pots and only had one
plant come up. But since it's a perennial, I thought I'd bury some seeds
this fall and see if overwintering is what they want.

Also tried perpetual spinach, a fine leafed chard - don't like it.

--
Where ARE those Iraqi WMDs?

On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 14:24:28 -0700, Larry Blanchard
wrote:



I've tried a lot of spinach substitutes and haven't really found one
either of us likes. This year I tried Good King Henry (or Lincolnshire
spinach) and it may have some possibilities if I can get it to germinate.
I planted several seeds in each of several starter pots and only had one
plant come up. But since it's a perennial, I thought I'd bury some seeds
this fall and see if overwintering is what they want.

Also tried perpetual spinach, a fine leafed chard - don't like it.

I love chard - just regular Swiss chard. I prefer the green
kind (Fordhook Giant is the one I generally grow). I think
it's better than spinach. I also think beet greens are
better than spinach. So I'm not really stuck for a spinach
substitute. Chard has always grown VERY well for me, never
any problems with it.

But I'll definitely also try Good King Henry: who could
resist growing a plant with a name like that? Not me.

Pat

In article ,
says...
But I'll definitely also try Good King Henry: who could
resist growing a plant with a name like that? Not me.


It's also known as Lincolnshire spinach. Apparently its even grown
commercially in Britain. The only place I've seen it is Bountiful
Gardens, and they say they've had trouble germinating it.

--
Where ARE those Iraqi WMDs?