From Seedling to Snail Food
I have finally decided to try the laitue feuille de chêne or oak leaf lettuce from our garden. I planted it at the end of last year, sometime in October or November. However, for no good reason, I continued to buy lettuce from supermarkets instead of harvesting from my garden.
The first batch did not get a chance to survive. A couple of weeks after the seedlings popped out, snails and/or slugs wiped them out — the same pests that have plagued my other attempts at gardening. To prevent further casualties, I fortified the lettuce bed with blue anti-snail pellets so as to give my second batch a fighting chance.
Finally, Lettuce Harvest Day
The second batch has survived marvellously. Despite my neglect to harvest earlier, the lettuce has continued to flourish in the last four months, its leaves growing wider and curlier by the week. Today, I have decided to harvest the lettuce for my lunch: a simple salad with walnuts, cherry tomatoes and feta cheese; I drizzled it with a shallot vinaigrette dressing.
The Verdict: Does Oak Leaf Lettuce Taste Different?
Since the lettuce was of my own labour (honestly, it was quite simple to grow except for the tedious work of saving it from the snails), from my own garden, I was expecting the homegrown vegetable to taste different — more delectable, crunchier, sweeter, more fragrant, more of every good thing that can happen to a homegrown plant. Hélas, it tasted just like normal lettuce from the supermarket. Perhaps the oak leaf lettuce needs richer soil, or perhaps I simply expected too much from a humble salad green. Either way, I will keep growing it — the joy of eating something I grew myself outweighs any disappointment in taste.