Lettuce Mold? Don't Pull It Out; Just Prune It Back!

All the rainfall we've been experiencing here in the Sacramento Valley has been great, but, as many of you have probably found out, it can be hard on your edible gardens, especially when combined with all the wind! Arlene, the UC Davis Good Life Garden Gardener, would arrive at work to find a small tossed salad of mixed greens scattered about our planting beds and on the pathways.

Needless to say our lettuce and greens took a beating by the wind, the rain, AND some kind of weird mold! After looking spectacular all season, our 'Sucrine' lettuce variety began to develop a strange moldy substance on most of the leaves, so Arlene opted to cut it all back to the ground and, thankfully, as you can see in the photos below, it's already sprouting up again without any mold!

Do you see the whitish-brown stalk on the right of this photo? That is all that was showing after Arlene pruned it back to combat the mold. Now new baby leaves have already emerged after just a few days.

Arlene chose to prune the leaves back at different times so the patch wouldn't be completely bare. In this photo you can see how well the leaves that have had a few more days to grow are progressing.

Seasonal Vegetable Profile: Lettuce

Health: Deep green lettuce leaves provide a wealth of nutrients, including Vitamins C and K, and folate, along with the minerals potassium and magnesium. Supplying only 25 calories per cup, lettuce is a nutritional bargain and excellent for heart health.

In history: Garden lettuce is thought to be a selected variety of Lactuca serriola, a wild lettuce found throughout Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It is believed to have been first cultivated in Egypt but was also a favorite amongst the ancient Greeks.

Harvest tip: To achieve an extra nutritional boost, harvest in the early morning for maximum carotene content and flavor.

In the garden: Lettuce prefers cooler conditions so plant in early spring or late summer.

Did you know? Medieval paintings often depict the lady of the house harvesting frilly lettuces. These delicate vegetables were considered dainty enough to be touched by refined hands.

Did you know? The lettuce family, or ‘Compositae,’ is the second largest family of flowering plants, and yet it only contributes to a few food plants.

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Sources:
McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Scribner: New York, 2004.
Health content provided by Liz Applegate, Director of Sports Nutrition, UC Davis, www.lizapplegate.com.