Lettuce, a member of the sunflower household, is without doubt one of the oldest recognized greens and is believed to be native to the Mediterranean space.

Within the US lettuce ranks second solely to potatoes as the most well-liked vegetable. Common US consumption within the Nineties was 30 kilos of lettuce per particular person per yr.

Lettuce can’t be harvested mechanically as a result of no machine has been invented that may inform an excellent head of lettuce from a foul head of lettuce. Lettuce should be harvested by hand.

There are 4 most important forms of lettuce – head lettuce, romaine, free leaf and butterhead. Head lettuce is best referred to as iceberg lettuce. Up till the Nineteen Twenties it was referred to as “crisphead” however was renamed when California growers started transport the lettuce beneath mounds of ice to maintain the heads cool and crisp. Romaine lettuce was named by the Romans who believed it had healthful properties. Actually, the Emperor Ceasar Augustus put up a statue praising lettuce as a result of he believed it cured him from an sickness.

Iceberg lettuce does not provide a lot nutritionally, however romaine and free leaf lettuce are nutrient wealthy. Actually, romaine and looseleaf present 5 to 6 instances the quantity of vitamin A and 5 to 10 instances the vitamin A in comparison with iceberg. Romaine and butterhead are also good sources of folate, which helps stop start defects and should lower threat of coronary heart illness.

In Oklahoma, lettuce is grown early within the spring in residence gardens. It’s a cool climate crop and tends to bolt in our scorching summers. Lettuce is an effective vegetable to develop in classroom gardens as a result of it is able to eat 40-50 days after it’s planted.

Good query: What occurs when a vegetable bolts?

Reply: The phrase “bolts” generally means “runs quick.” When a vegetable bolts, it begins to develop in a short time, rising flowers after which creating seeds. Often it develops a bitter taste at that time and is not good to eat.

Be a Meals Explorer- Lettuce is finest recognized for its use as a base for salad, nevertheless it will also be used as a wrap, in the identical means a tortilla is used. Lettuce will also be added to soups.

Since earliest instances individuals have harvested wild leafy vegetation, particularly in spring, after they have been younger and tender. A number of the wild vegetation accessible to early foragers have been wild celery, chervils, cresses, and parsley. Salads have been among the many first cultivated vegetation that folks grew of their gardens.

In pre-Roman instances, individuals in England loved beet greens. The Roman occupation introduced lettuces, cucumbers, carrots, endive and sorrel. Medieval monks planted them among the many herbs of their gardens, and Renaissance gardeners developed new varieties and produced them in better portions.

The phrase “salad” comes from the Latin phrase “herba salta” or “salted herbs,” so referred to as as a result of such greens have been often seasoned with dressings containing numerous salt. Early American colonists referred to as it “sallet.” They introduced their favourite seeds to the New World, established kitchen gardens, and dined on their seasonal treasures. The primary German-American natural, printed in 1777, included 35 vegetation used as salads.

Through the late nineteenth Century, the idea of salads expanded. At first probably the most daring addition was the recent tomato, lengthy suspected by some Individuals and Western Europeans as harmful when eaten uncooked. Fruit salads adopted, and by the top of the century, potato, egg, or rooster salads in fancy displays flourished.

The fashionable salad bar in all probability first emerged within the late Nineteen Sixties.

Get pleasure from constructing a recent spring salad along with your kids or grandchildren. Use assorted elements to encourage children to attempt one thing totally different. As children are figuring out their elements for the salad, have them type by coloration, fruit, vegetable, protein, carbohydrate, plant half or meals group. The problem may introduce children and even adults to the number of meals we eat, together with the place it comes from and the way it’s ready or cooked.

Rachel Lockwood is the Household Client Science Extension Educator with Pittsburg County OSU Cooperative Extension Service. For extra data associated to this matter or associated FCS applications contact Rachel at 918-423-4120, e mail Rachel.lockwood@okstate.edu or on Pittsburg County OSU Web site http://oces.okstate.edu/pittsburg/ or discover Pittsburg County OSU Extension Heart or Pittsburg County OHCE on Fb.

Oklahoma State College, U.S. Division of Agriculture, State and Native governments cooperating. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service presents its applications to all eligible individuals no matter age, race, coloration, faith, intercourse, sexual orientation, genetic data, gender identification, nationwide origin, incapacity, protected veteran standing, or some other legally protected standing and is an Equal Alternative Employer.