Corn Salad

Valerianella Locusta

Story: This is one of our favourite leafy greens to grow. It forms small rosettes of fresh leaves in the colder months; but is prone to bolt or die off in hot, dry summers. It is much less affected by disease and slug attack than standard lettuce and has a deep, nutty, almost potato-like flavour. It self seeds prolifically if you let it flower meaning bountiful harvests for years to come - what’s not to love!?

When to sow: Feb - April or July - October direct

Requirements: nutrient-rich soil, regular watering, and a lot of sun.

Harvest: All year

Need to isolate: No 

Seed Grown: Omved Gardens

Seed harvested: 2023

Saving Seed: There aren't many types of corn salad out there and it is usually picked before flowering stage for eating so there is little risk of cross pollination. Simply allow your cornsalad to grow and grow until it makes flowers and then seeds. Once the seeds begin to dry on the plant, chop the plants at the base and leave them to hang somewhere dry over a try or tarp until the seeds begin to fall (you can give them a little help by rubbing the seed heads. 

How to send seed back: Please label all seed with variety, type, date and your contact, if you didn't get a chance to fill out our online data collection form, you can also send us a few lines about how it grew for you/flavour etc. Please aim to send back 2 tablespoon of dried seed or more so that we can continue to share with network members. Send to: Omved Gardens, 1 Townsend Yard, N6 5JF.

Please remember, if you’re an individual grower you can order up to 3 packets of seeds. If you order more than this, you will receive just three packs to begin with. This is to ensure we get plenty of data in return and to keep our stocks sustainable for years to come.* 

*Community groups and Experienced Growers can order larger quantities, please email us if this is the case.

If an item is out of stock we will send a close alternative.