Tag Archives: Garden Draft

Garden Draft Prospect: Lettuce

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Continuing our in-depth coverage of the garden draft hopefuls, we’re going to take a look at Lettuce.  Our garden experts have reviewed the scant film they could find to really get underneath what makes Lettuce tick and whether that will translate to the next level.

You’re ready. We’re ready.  Let’s buckle up and get going.

Check out past draft prospect coverage here:  Radish

Size:  How can you put a number on Lettuce’s size?  No, really, how would you even measure lettuce?  Height of a leaf?  Weight?  Volume?  It’s like 112% water with a little lettuce flavor sprinkled in.  So, right off the bat our experts were a little confused.  But, that’s not surprising.  Lettuce is a bit of a boom or bust candidate.  This is really going to be driven by how much you like lettuce.  On one hand, it’s delicious and refreshing.  On the other, it’s Lettuce.  So, we’re calling it size = regular.

Lettuce

Reliability/durability: High marks here for Lettuce.  I know, soft leafy vegetable doesn’t really scream ‘durability,’ but Lettuce hangs tough.  Consistent germination – mainly because the seeds are so small you can’t help but plant 47 of them in one place.  Obviously one of those will germinate.  Lots of heart to stand up to constant harvesting of their outer leaves while the inner core perseveres.  Quick note – we here at Sprout and Share focus heavily on the loose leaf lettuces (letti?).  I just don’t think we have the gumption to funnel all of our love, affection and effort into head lettuce that might end up with one last minute squirrel bite rendering it inedible.  So, kudos are due anytime a vegetable shows more heart than the gardener.

Versatility: Nothing crazy happening here.  This is Lettuce after all.  Pretty buttoned-up, health-conscious entrant.  You can get some interesting colors (well, mainly red or green) and some ramped up flavors (arugula, chicories, etc), but if Lettuce is going to be the star, it’s going to be salad.  And Salad isn’t paying the bills.  Lettuce needs to stay in their lane as a role player. As a result, Lettuce’s ceiling is a bit lower than you’d hope for a high-round pick.  Garden grown Lettuce does make a great foundation to feature other veggies like beets, radishes, carrots, etc.  So, good team player?

Other ilities: One of Lettuce’s biggest strengths is sustainability.  Not in the “beneficial concept that helps the world way,” but in a “you can harvest it all the time” way.  It just keeps churning out those leaves, and that’s what brings all the kids to the yard.  And they’re like, “it’s better than store bought.”  Darn right it’s better than store bought.  I can teach you, but I’ll have to charge.  Well, that’s not true – this blog is free to the first 100 readers – but we’ve significantly derailed from the sustainability talk, so let’s just move on.

Lettuce -triangle box

Production: Starts the garden off with a bang in early spring when everyone is excited to see the tangible benefits of a long off-season.  Not a whole lot is required from the gardener to generate consistent results – be it kids pulling leaves straight to eat, salad fodder or perhaps a nice accoutrement for those burgers coming off the grill (nothing better than garden bed-to-plate eating).  Tallies a lot of marks in the ‘Pro’ column.  From this assessor’s eye, the one main negative is the penchant to draw aphids from eight counties away.  Lettuce seems to be some sort of aphid magnet.  I’m not scientist, but I think it’s the same property that draws your child’s elbow to the full water glass on the table.  Regardless, scraping aphids off individual Lettuce leaves isn’t ideal unless you’re some sort of sociopath seeking mass carnage.

Grade: B

If you truly love salad, I’d bump this a half grade.  Lettuce is solid if not flashy.  A good start to build on without much risk of failure.  Don’t expect friends and neighbors to be fawning over your Lettuce patch, but as they say in the tech world, nobody ever got fired buying IBM.  It’s a good confidence builder to add to your stable of veggies.  You could do worse than a nice light garden salad with a little mustard vinagrette on a hot summer evening.  Not everything you do has to be spectacular – sometimes you can just bask in the glow of slightly-above-averageness.

Garden Draft Analysis: Radish

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It’s draft day!  There’s excitement in the air.  Hope, desire and future success lay in the balance.  But, how will we know who’s best and who’s likely to be left wilting in the green room?  It’s time to grade garden produce. This is America after all, we need rankings!

Just like the NFL and NBA drafts, nerds everywhere need to make themselves feel better by poking and prodding at potential draftees to speculate on their worth in this world.  I assume MLB and NHL do this as well, but let’s be real, nobody is nerdy enough to care about those.

First under the microscope is the unassuming Radish.  Let’s see how they stack up.

Size: Radish is small but scrappy.  You’re not picking up a run stuffer here, but Radish’s small stature gives it a quickness unseen in other veggies – 30 days to harvest!  If impressive size is your thing, Radish might not ring your bell.  But, they have a tendency to flip that perceived negative into a positive across the garden.

French Breakfast Radishes

Reliability/durability: As consistent as the day is long.  High motor gets Radish moving early in the year.  We’re talking leaves and underground growth before Bean and Cucumber are even thinking about germination.  Sprout like clockwork and persevere through temperature ups and downs.  Coaches best friend – low maintenance, orderly rows and spacing, very little after-hours tomfoolery.

Versatility:  Perhaps the one real knock on Radish in this year’s draft.  What you see is what you get. Now, what you’re seeing is a strong offering – lovely color, a bit of flair with the peppery flavor, a few varietal curveballs (watermelon, daikon) – but, the output is sound fundamentals with a low ceiling (salads).  When Radish steps out of their lane, you can see it.  Pickled Radishes, while tasty, smell like farts.  And roasted Radishes, while interesting, taste gross.   

Other ilities: Radish is just a small ball of usability.  Can squeeze through the smallest gap making them a great partner in a tandem plant.  Easy, natural talent and a born leader in the clubhouse.  Always ready to jump off the bench and produce.  Perfect plant for young/inexperienced gardeners to lean on for immediate results.

Production: Never in question. Radish travels in packs and churns out deliciousness at any level you desire.  Get on the board early with an easy spring score to impress friends and family with your green thumb.  Or, throw some in for a last-minute, late-season harvest. Radish rarely seeks the spotlight, but they deliver in bunches.

Grade: B+

Radish is a sneaky, relentless high performer.  Tenacious from start to finish with a spicy attitude but the self-control to stay in their row.  A dream to manage with little entourage (pests) or night life (disease) issues, Radish will almost certainly come off the board early due to their high floor.  Set aside the lower ceiling to see Radish for what it is – a winner in the garden.