How to Grow Corn Salad - Mache -- Harvest to Table

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.

Related article:

How to Serve Corn Salad

Table of Contents

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 can be broadcast and does not require thinning

Corn salad seed sowing dates

(These dates are for the Northern Hemisphere)

Average date of the last frost	Planting dates
Jan. 30	Jan. 1-Feb. 15
Feb. 8	Jan. 1-Feb. 15
Feb. 18	Jan. 1-Mar. 15
Feb. 28	Jan. 1-Mar. 15
Mar. 10	Jan. 1-Mar. 15
Mar. 20	Jan. 1-Mar. 15
Mar. 30	Jan. 1-Mar. 15
Apr. 10	Feb. 1-Apr. 1
Apr. 20	Feb. 14-Apr. 15
Apr. 30	Mar. 1-May 1
May 10	Apr. 1-June 1
May 20	Apr. 15-June 1
May 30	May 1-June 15
June 10	May 15-June 15

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 Grow Corn Salad-Mache

How to Serve Corn Salad-Mache

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