Lettuce, Flashy Trout's Back

This beautiful variety steals the show in any salad garden. In Europe, this Austrian heirloom is called Forellenschluss romaine and is one of the most prized of all lettuce varieties. A dark green-leafed romaine splashed with wine-red speckles. Imagine dipping a paintbrush in red paint and giving it a sharp shake onto your romaine lettuce and you've got the picture. Your taste buds will love it for its rich, buttery flavor, too.

Lettuce: Almost synonymous with the backyard veggies garden, lettuce is a great addition to the garden beds. These low, leafy rosettes come in a couple different categories - like romaine, boston, buttercrunch, or oakleaf, - and hundreds of different varieties! They do their best in the spring and fall when the hot summer heat doesn’t tempt them to make flowers and develop a bitter flavor.

Growing Tips: Plant lettuce about 10 inches between heads (6 if they are a miniature variety) and keep them well watered. I like to put down a little straw mulch to help keep the soil moist. If they get very dry or very hot they may ‘bolt’ by trying to build a tall center stem with flowers. When they do they get more bitter so eat them quickly!