Lactuca sativa • Open-Pollinated • AAS Winner

JOY MAX SCALE ✦✦✦✦✦

✦ As near to perfection you can get in a butter lettuce.

✦ Keeps well after harvest but best when picked minutes before your meal. 

✦ Huge heads, one can feed four people. Trust.

✦ Incredible bolt resistance, the best I’ve found.

✦ Buttercrunch stays mild long after others have turned bitter.

Basic Growing Information

Direct sow when temps are in the 600s. Sow 6 seeds per foot, Cover very lightly and firm soil gentl. Sprouts should  appear within a week to 10 days. Grows well in containers. Full sun in fall, but in spring / summer, part-shade is best. You can harvest leaves or full heads. It stores well in the fridge.

Tips for Growing Lettuce

• Lettuce seeds need light to germinate; broadcast seeds or  sow 2” apart on soil surface & lightly cover with a thin layer of growing soil or potting medium.

• Sow lettuce seeds every two weeks to extend harvests. 

• For  best flavor, pick lettuce when it’s still young as lettuce allowed to grow too long gets bitter and tough.

• Harvest in the morning when the leaves contain the most moisture.

• If you let lettuce dry out, it may not die, but the flavor will be compromised. The best tasting lettuce has never known true thirst. 

Companion Planting

Plant mint among your lettuce to keep away the slugs that feed on lettuce leaves, or plant chives and garlic to repel aphids. Beans, beets, broccoli, carrots, corn, peas, radishes, and marigolds also work as good companion plants. 

Seed Saving

If you allow a lettuce to bolt, once completely dry, shake the flower stems in a paper bag. Rub the seed heads between your hands to release more seeds. Put the seed through a fine mesh sieve that allows the seeds through but retains the chaff and plumes; this will give relatively clean seed.