Lambs Lettuce D'Orlanda
Your other lettuces will grow slowly in the winter, and may give up the ghost altogether if the weather's harsh. So it's a good idea to sow yourself a banker like Lambs Lettuce in late summer. It's unaffected by all but very harsh frosts and grows quickly despite short days and lack of heat.
Use the deliciously tender glossy leaves as you would any summer salad leaves.
Time from seed to plate: 10 weeks
Sowing Calendar
Sow
Make a shallow groove along your grow bed where you're going to sow the seeds. It needs to be about 1cm deep. Sprinkle the seed into the groove, about one every 2cm and cover with a thin layer of compost. Water well and label.
Grow
Once the seedlings are growing start thinning out the smaller ones to create gaps of 10cm or so between plants. Your plants won't mature properly otherwise.
Sprinkle on some slug pellets if you suspect some are getting nibbled.
Harvest
Lambs lettuce is quite a bit slower than the salad leaves grown in the summer, but should be ready to harvest 8-10 weeks from sowing.
Cut individual rosettes of leaves off a plant, leaving the rest to carry on growing.