Spotted Trout Lettuce | Lactuca sativa | Certified Organic
Tender, attractive romaine.
Forellenschluss, the German name for this Austrian lettuce, translates to "Spotted Trout." Both the fish and this romaine are beautifully coloured and prefer cool living
conditions. However, while lettuce does like plenty of moisture, only the fish will grow happily underwater. Next time you're fishing around for a flashy addition to your plate, try this tender, sweet, painterly romaine.
The flecks of red on Spotted Trout's pale green leaves add beauty to any salad. It has a compact habit with leaves that are thinner and softer than the average romaine, and its flavor is more subdued and delicate.
Spotted Trout is part of Slow Foods US Ark of Taste, a catalogue of over 200 delicious foods in danger of extinction. By promoting, sowing, and growing Ark products we help ensure they remain in production and on our plates.
This variety is suitable for growing as a microgreen. 🌱
Sow Spotted Trout Lettuce indoors beginning 8-10 weeks before last frost, or direct sow beginning about 4 weeks before last frost. Harvest late spring and summer sowings promptly to beat bolting. Continue sowing until about 2 weeks before first fall frost. Lettuce likes steady (but not excessive) moisture and can become prematurely bitter during dry spells; keep irrigated for best-tasting leaves.
Days to Germination 5-10 days
Days to Maturity 55 days
Planting Depth ½"
Spacing in Row 8"
Spacing Between Rows 12"
Height at Maturity 8-12"
Width at Maturity 6-10"
Sun Preference Full to Little Sun
Artwork by Michael Asbill. By combining pencil illustration and photogrpahy, artist Michael Asbill created his own cross between a trout and a romaine leaf. To make it official, he gave it a Latin name: Lactuca trutta.
About Hudson Valley Seed Company
They are a values-driven seed company that practices and celebrates responsible seed production and stewardship. Hudson Valley are best known for their beautiful artist-design seed packs (Art Packs) that appeal to gardeners, gift buyers, and lovers of art and nature.
These Art Packs, most fundamentally, tell stories. Hudson Valley challenges artists to convey in a manner that is fully their own, the history and meaning of the seed variety contained in each pack. These stories were once integral to traditional societies-stories of seeds were often origin stories for entire communities and peoples, and the lore and beliefs that accumulated around seed varieties reflected the nearly familial way in which gardeners and farmers regarded their crops. Our society is, by and large, no longer connected to plants this way. But we like to think these Art Packs help to stitch our fragmented world back together: useful seeds, evocative art, both equally valuable to our experience of being human.