How to Grow Corn Salad

Corn salad is also known as lamb’s lettuce and mache. Corn salad is an easy-to-grow green with a mild, nutty flavor and gentle texture. It can be lightly cooked like spinach or eaten raw with an oil vinaigrette.

Corn salad is a low-growing, small-leaved, hardy annual. It rarely grows more than 4 inches (10cm) high with a similar spread. It is an ideal crop for intercropping or under-cropping.

When to planting corn salad

For a late spring/ early summer harvest, sow corn salad directly in the garden in late winter or early spring; sow seeds under the cover of a plastic tunnel or frost blanket if you expect a temperature as low as 28°F (12°C).

For summer use, sow corn salad in early to mid-spring. For autumn use, sow early to mid-summer, but be aware plants may bolt in hot weather.

Corn salad seed sowing

Sow seeds in narrow or broad drills about 4 inches (10cm) apart or broadcast the seeds. Thinning is usually not necessary. Moisten the drills or cove the beds with moist fleece until seeds germinate.

Corn salad is a good choice to intercrop between onions or shallots.

Corn salad seed sowing dates

(These dates are for the Northern Hemisphere)

Corn salad planting details

• Sowing depth: ¼ inch (6mm) or less
• Space between plant after thinning: 4-6 inches (10-15cm)
• Days to sprout: 7
• Days to harvest: 84 days for mature plants; small plants can be harvested at an edible size
• Storage period: 4 weeks
• Seeds per 100-row feet: ½ ounce (14 grams)
• Yield per 100-row feet: 45 pounds (20kg)
• Types: Large-leaved type has somewhat floppy leaves and habit; often called ‘English’ of ‘Dutch” type. ‘Vert’/’Green’ type is squatter and smaller than large-leaved types; often used for late sowings.

Related articles of interest:

How to Serve Corn Salad-Mache

Garden Planning Books at Amazon:

• Vegetable Garden Grower’s Guide
• Tomato Grower’s Answer Book
• Vegetable Garden Almanac & Planner
• Kitchen Garden Grower’s Guide Vegetable Encyclopedia