Lamb's lettuce (Valerianella locusta), also known as 'rapunzel', 'corn salad', or 'mâche', has been cultivated in Europe since the late Middle Ages. It's nutritious and so tasty that it stars in a fairy tale:

One day, the woman stood at the window and looked down into the witch's garden. She saw a bed filled with the most beautiful rapunzel, and it looked so fresh and green that she craved it; she had the most burning desire to eat of it. Her desire increased every day, but since she knew that she could not have any, she grew pale and ill.

This greatly alarmed her husband, who asked her 'what ails you, dear wife?'

'Oh', she replied, 'if I cannot eat some of the rapunzel from that garden, I must surely die.'

- from Rapunzel, collected in the Grimms' Fairy Tales

Few people know that the story of the long-haired girl in the tower starts with a simple pregnancy craving. But what is it about this little plant that would make a new mother not only trade her long-awaited baby for a few mouthfuls of it, but name the child after it as well?

Common And Hardworking

Lamb's lettuce is a rather unassuming herbaceous¹ plant with smooth, spoon-shaped, dark green leaves arranged in rosettes. While you're most likely to encounter only the leaves (probably on your plate), it does shoot up and flower, self-pollinating if there are no insects available to do the job. The plant is annual, that is, it only grows once and then dies off. However, the seeds² have small air-filled chambers, like water wings, that allow them to float, so a single good rain can spread them far and wide. Before the days of monoculture and herbicides, lamb's lettuce could be found growing wild among the crops or in meadows. Where it's not grown deliberately, lamb's lettuce is considered a weed.

It's also extremely hardy, requiring little to no fertiliser and surviving temperatures as low as -20°C³. We're spoiled for choice today with our greenhouses and freezers, but historically, lamb's lettuce was prized as one of few fresh vegetables available in the winter and early spring. It's no wonder Rapunzel's mother craved it, when she probably only had a few wrinkly turnips left in the root cellar and it was a long time until the next harvest.

While it's very low in calories - just 12 of them in a one-cup⁴ serving - it has three times as much vitamin C as lettuce, plenty of vitamins E, B6 and B9 (folic acid), potassium, beta carotene, and more iron than any other leafy green vegetable except parsley. As a member of the valerian family, it also contains essential oils (especially in the roots, but also in the leaves) similar to those found in valerian.

Growing Your Own

Commercially grown lamb's lettuce is hard to find outside Europe, and it can be rather pricey because it has to be hand-picked. Fortunately, it's easy to grow, and will even taste better fresh from your own garden! The term 'garden' can be interpreted quite loosely. Window boxes are enough. While it likes direct sunlight in cooler climates, too much sun can cause it to bolt to seed.

Lamb's lettuce is usually sown from July to September and again in April, so you can harvest it all summer and well into the next spring. While it enjoys a bit of compost worked into the soil before you plant, it needs no other fertiliser. Just sprinkle the seeds⁵ in rows spaced 10-15 cm apart and cover them with a thin layer of sand or earth. Water them occasionally, but be careful not to wash the seeds away. When they sprout, thin the rows a bit to give each plant enough room to grow, and make sure the birds don't thin them even further for you!

While the lamb's lettuce you buy usually comes as complete rosettes, often with the roots still attached, you'll want to harvest yours by cutting off the leaves with a pair of scissors - if you leave the centre rosette intact, the plant will continue growing new leaves for you to harvest. You can keep picking leaves until the plants are ready to flower. Then either pull them out or dig them under (to keep them from spreading throughout your garden) or let them flower and drop their seeds for zero-effort replanting.

If you want to keep harvesting all winter, tent your plants with foil or a cloche⁶; otherwise, mulch them if you're not expecting much snow. They'll stop growing when it gets too cold, but will start up again in the spring. Don't pick leaves from frozen plants; they wilt instantly and aren't much good to eat.

Preparation

Whether you bought your lamb's lettuce or picked it from your garden, remember that the plant is delicate and should be eaten as soon as possible, though it will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Like spinach, lamb's lettuce can be very sandy. Wash it carefully, as close as possible to the time when it's to be eaten, removing any yellowed leaves or tough roots, drying it gently before preparing. If it's already slightly wilted, putting it in a bowl of lukewarm (not cold!) water for a few minutes can revive it.

While it can be steamed and used like spinach in omelettes and soups, or added to sandwiches, lamb's lettuce really comes into its own as a salad. The flavour is tangy and nutty, and complemented by flavours like apples, feta cheese, and walnuts, though it's also strong enough to pair well with garlic. Even if you're watching your weight, don't be afraid to use a bit of oil in the dressing - it will help your body absorb the fat-soluble vitamins more easily.

With the growing trend towards eating locally-grown, in-season produce, lamb's lettuce is an excellent way to get more variety into your vegetables, especially in the winter. And unlike most of the lettuce you can buy, it's more than crunchy water - it has a definite flavour of its own.