Corn Salad, Gelber Nüssler (Organic)
Valerianella sp. 55 days.
Nüssler is the common name for corn salad in German-speaking Switzerland, where we picked up this tasty and nutritious gem on our Seed Ambassadors travels many years ago. Light-green (almost golden) leaves have very mild flavor and form a small rosette which is harvested whole or occasionally as cut-and-come-again salad greens all winter long. A cool season vegetable that is best sown in spring or fall. Makes a great winter rotation after the summer garden has been retired. If left unharvested, it naturalizes easily. Best sown where you will always welcome volunteer salad greens. Soil temps above 70˚F will cause seed to go dormant. Corn salad has been foraged by Europeans for centuries, and only became commercially available in the 1980s. We were gifted this variety by ProSpecieRara, the Swiss seed saving organization, and have reason to believe that it is Valerianella eriocarpa, sometimes referred to as Italian Corn Salad. Aka, Mache, Lamb’s Lettuce.
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Sow in September for greens through March. May also be spring sown; requires cool temps to germinate. Thin to 4” in all directions. Harvest 1” above basal plate for cut-and-come-again greens or lower for rosette. Self-seeds prolifically. Hardy to 5˚F.
Seed Saving
Seeds shatter easily. Harvest whole plants as seed begins to mature & spread thinly on a tarp to catch seeds as they dry. Stir/flip plants daily to avoid mold. Finish air-drying seed if necessary before sealing in airtight container. Isolate from varieties of same species by 1⁄4 mile.
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