Growing Mâche, Lamb's Lettuce, Doucette, or Corn Salad

We planted mâche (valerianella locusta*) last spring, and it grew and germinated nicely, and went to flower and then to seed, all before we got around to eating any. It self-seeded very well, and in fact I ripped out large quantities last summer as a weed. I did leave enough for us to make one or two salads.

This is hardly enough experience to render me an expert in growing mâche, but it falls into the same category as many other little greens we have grown. It's small, it's fast growing, and it's at its peak for a very short period of time, all of which makes it something of a pain in the large mixed vegetable garden.

On the other hand, the fact that its peak will fall from the middle of April to early May, depending on the weather, makes it something worth considering. I may continue to let it seed itself around, and leave patches of it to overwinter. It was quite pickable almost as soon as the snow melted, and that makes it a very nice little green indeed.

Like the moderately similar miner's lettuce, mâche is a weed which has begun to be cultivated for it's qualities as a salad green. Unlike miner's lettuce, mâche is not a native of North America. It comes from northern Europe through Asia, where it was a popular foraged spring green, especially in France and England. The name "corn salad" comes from the fact that it was a common weed in grain fields, and the name "lamb's lettuce" suggests it was common in pastures too. They will tolerate a fair bit of shade, although mine grew well enough in the open.

The other thing they have in common is that while you may now be able to buy seed for them, they are hardly cultivated vegetables and really don't behave as such, with their fleeting period of high quality followed by early flowering and copious seeding. I suspect there are 2 main strategies for growing it successfully; the one I intend to follow of just letting it seed itself around the garden, leaving patches to overwinter for early spring picking. This is the low-control option which means it will only be available in the very early spring.

The other way I would consider growing it is in pots or other very controlled growing mediums. Mâche does not so far seem very attractive to slugs, or mice, or other small pests of small plants the way mustards and other Chinese greens do, but the speed at which it grows and its tiny size at maturity should make it suitable for pot culture. It's also a good plant for growing as micro-greens and not uncommonly included in baby salad green mixes. Many people grow it in hoop-houses, or under cover in some way.

I found that pulling up the entire little rosette and pinching off the root left me with very attractive little rosettes. You can shred them and mix them into salads, but they make lovely little garnishes when left whole. The flavour is mild - often described as nutty, which seems to me a bit optimistic - and it will easily blend in with a mix of other salad greens. The texture of the leaves is thin, sturdy but tender, and not succulent like miner's lettuce. They are very nutritious and unlike miner's lettuce contain no oxalic acid.



*Wikipedia suggests that rapunzel is one of the names of mâche. I do not believe this is correct. Every other description of I have seen of rapunzel says it's a form of campanula (bluebells).

Posted in: Ontario Food