Lots of lettuce

June, lovely mid-summer weather to enjoy salads. Growing in Community Garden plots are a wonderful variety of lettuces from cut and come again loose-leaved varieties to butterheads.

The red pigment in the colourful leaves of the garnet oak leaf and rubin varieties seem to provide a deterrent to slugs and snails. The loose heads are excellent for 'cut and come again' and are delightfully crisp to eat.

Oak Leaf (bottom) and Rubin (top) on the left and Speckled Trout (top) and Bath Island (bottom) on the right

Bath Island is a cos variety from Irish Seedsavers. It has large green, crisp, juicy leaves in a loose 'cos-type' head. It is hardy, growing through autumn and winter from a late summer sowing.

Speckled Trout, also known as Freckles or Speckled Lettuce, gets its name because it is speckled like a trout's back. It's delicious in salads and, also, shredded and sauteed briefly with a little oil and salt.

Lettuce can be prone to bolt in warm weather. Intercropping with taller crops provides the shadier conditions they prefer.