Red Salad Bowl Lettuce History

Large decorative upright plants with wide leaves that are crisp and delicious. Has a long shelf life. Beautiful deep-lobed bronze leaves, 6″ tall and 14-16″ wide plants. Very slow to bolt, good harvests over extended periods. Popular since it was introduced in 1955. Start eating as a baby leaf at 25 days or as a full sized, loose-leaf head at 50 days.

Red Salad Bowl Lettuce Growing

Lettuce loves cool weather. You can begin planting leaf, romaine and butterhead lettuce as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. If you plant lettuce in successive plantings, with 10 to 14 days in between, you’ll have an extended harvest. Head lettuce is usually started indoors or in a cold frame and transplanted in the spring after the last frost date. The ideal lettuce growing location for spring and fall is in a spot that receives full sun. It doesn’t take much work to grow lettuce from seeds. Lettuce seeds are often quite small and only require a planting depth of ¼ to ½ inch deep.

Preserving And Storing  Lettuce

One of the keys to making a good salad is ensuring that your lettuce is fresh and crisp. Nothing makes for a disappointing salad like a plateful of limp, wilted greens.

Red Salad Bowl Lettuce Recipes

This Red Leaf Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette recipe is fresh, light and delicious. It is a simple salad that comes together quickly. I add the dressing right on the salad, in the bowl, no pre-mixing required!

How To Harvest Salad Bowl Lettuce

Lettuce should be harvested when full size, but just before maturity. The leaves taste best when they’re still young and tender. Before maturity, you can harvest leaf lettuce by simply removing outer leaves so that the center leaves can continue to grow. Butterhead, romaine, and loose-leaf types can be harvested by removing the outer leaves, digging up the whole plant, or cutting the plant about an inch above the soil surface. A second harvest is often possible when using the first or third methods.

Crisphead lettuce is picked when the center is firm. Mature lettuce gets bitter and woody and will go bad quickly, so check your garden everyday for ready-to-harvest leaves. It’s best to harvest lettuce in the morning before leaves have been exposed to sun, as they will be the most crisp at this time. As time passes and the plant loses vigor, you may be better off planting a second round of seeds than waiting for new leaves. Keep lettuce in the refrigerator for up to 10 days in a loose plastic bag. Lettuce leaves have wilted? Put the leaves in a bowl of cold water with ice cubes and soak for about 15 minutes.

Red Salad Bowl Lettuce Nutrition

The nutrients in romaine lettuce provide multiple health benefits:

• Vitamin C helps support the immune system, is high in antioxidants, and helps keep bones and teeth strong.
• Calcium is necessary for the building and maintenance of bones, muscle function, nerve function, and blood clotting.
• Vitamin K is also necessary for blood clotting. It works together with calcium to prevent bone mineral loss and fractures due to osteoporosis.
• Vitamin A (from beta carotene) is a vital nutrient, necessary for health. An antioxidant, vitamin A supports cell growth and reproductive health. It also helps to maintain the heart, kidneys, and lungs. Vitamin A also supports the eyes.
• Folate is a B vitamin, which supports cell division, the production of DNA, and genetic material. Folate deficiency in pregnant women can lead to complications with pregnancy, including premature birth, low birth weight, or the birth defect spina bifida.
• Phosphorus works with calcium to build strong bones and teeth.
• Magnesium helps enzymes function and relaxes the muscles in your body. It works with calcium to build tissue.
• Potassium is an electrolyte that helps your heart beat regularly. It supports nerve function and helps your muscles contract normally. Potassium also helps your cells to move, and utilize, nutrients efficiently. It minimizes the negative impact of sodium (salt) on the body.

Other Lettuce Varieties Worth Checking Out

 Slobolt Lettuce is a garden standard since 1946. Becoming extremely hard to find. Broad and frilly green leaves grow especially well in the spring, but will grow well even in to the hottest days of summer. The best flavored of all the Grand Rapids.

 Green Oakleaf Lettuce; a Scottish heirloom was introduced near Edinburgh in the 1830’s. Highly adaptable, perfect for home or market gardens. Consistent producer of 3″, white, tender stalks and is very winter hardy. Excellent flavor and yield. Wonderful in soups.