Lactuca sativa.
The pioneer of coloured lettuces in the North American garden. Released in 1958, Ruby Red was the first red lettuce to win the prestigious All-America Selections award, opening the way for the whole generation of mesclun mixes that dominate markets today. Frilly leaves, ruffled at the edges, of a tender green at the base shifting into a deep ruby red at the tips — a colour that intensifies under bright sun and cool fall nights, and pales a bit in great heat.
Loose-leaf type, without head formation — you pick leaf by leaf, or by the handful from the periphery, and the plant keeps producing new leaves from the centre, the famous "cut and come again" principle that can feed a family in fresh salad for a good six weeks from a single well-sown row. The flavour is mild, crunchy, without bitterness, and the colour alone makes half of a beautiful composed salad. Unexpected bonus: it decorates the vegetable garden like an ornamental bed.
Grower's tip: Lettuce germinates poorly above 25 °C — a phenomenon called thermo-dormancy. If you sow in midsummer for a fall harvest, soak the seeds overnight in the fridge before sowing, or start in cells indoors in a cool spot. Keep the surface soil moist — lettuce seeds are tiny, sown barely covered, and a surface drying immediately compromises emergence.
- Open-pollinated. Self-fertile, so very few crossings to fear — ideal for seed saving.
- Height: 20 to 25 cm.
- Maturity: 45 to 55 days (young leaves from 30 days).
- Exposure: full sun in spring and fall, part shade in midsummer.
- Rich, fresh, well-drained soil. Thin to 20-25 cm for full plants, or to 10 cm for young-leaf picking.
- Direct-sow as soon as the soil can be worked (mid-April in Québec), in successive rows every two weeks through mid-June. Resume sowings from mid-August for the fall harvest.
