[juliec]

Good morning my fellow growers.  I had a packet of mixed salad leaf seeds this year, free from a magazine, planted some in a pot near the back door and some in my raised beds.

They all grew well eventually although there were very few mixed leaves and lots of rocket.  Any way I think I must have left them growing too long as some went to seed and the others when I tried them were very bitter tasting.

Has any one experienced this before?  Am thinking of trying lettuce soup with whats left before the frost gets it.

many thanks for any and all help as usual, you guys are  a great help.


Jools

xxx

[compostqueen]

You can get bitter leaves but some folks actually prefer it but I know what you mean. You can cut the leaves to reduce the bitterness and mix them with some other varieties to less the impact 

they say once a leaf is cut you've broken the cells and it reduces the bitterness but I don't know the science behind the claim so don't quote me 

[JohnB47]

I heard a while ago (was it on Gardeners Question Time on the Radio, or was it in a weekend paper?) that the dry weather some of us had throughout this last summer was the reason for bitter salad leaves. It was really dry down here in Devon and I grew three types of lettuce - they were all bitter.

I also heard that storing the leaves for a while allows the bitterness to dissipate. I tried this idea by cutting some leaves and storing them overnight in the fridge. They did taste less bitter, although it was a pity not to be eating them straight from the plot. Something to try perhaps?