Baby leaf is literally the baby leaf. It is not a special variety, but prematurely harvested lettuce of existing types. Baby leaf requires particular ways of growing. On each square meter 800-1000 seeds are compactly sown by a machine. After a short growing period of several weeks, the leaf can be harvested at a length of 8-10 centimetres.

Baby leaf is most commonly used in salad packages. These contain five to eight different kinds of lettuce, such as lollo rosso, lollo bionda, batavia, cancan, red and green oak leaf, rucola and red chard. These lettuce types can also be bought individually as baby leaf, because they were all sown separately and mixed afterwards.

The characteristics of baby leaf are:

• young, tender and tasteful leaves;
• minimal cutting surface, therefore no cutting wounds;
• easy to process, as the product does not need cutting;
• no coarse veins;
• high variety mix due to colour and shapes.

Availability

Netherlands: February - December
Spain: November - May

Also grown by:

• Primaflor s.a.t.
• Tuinderij van Vugt

Frisee is a type of endive, also called curly escarole. This escarole has an open crop with curly, sharply indented leaves. The heart of the crop is yellow, the outer leaves are green. Frisee tastes somewhat more bitter than the average escarole and that particularly applies for the outer green leaves. Especially the light inner part of the crop is excellent for salads. With only 5 kcal per 100 grams, this escarole is among the low calories vegetables.

Availability

Netherlands: February - December
Spain: November - May

Also grown by:

• P. van Osch Groentenproducties B.V.
• Crotoni Trading BVBA
• Lucassen Agri Cultuur B.V.
• Primaflor s.a.t.
• Van Baalen Growers

Iceberg lettuce of crisp head lettuce is a big light-green crop with crispy leaves. The name stems from the United States. According to one explanation, the leaves are so crispy, it seems like they are frozen. The other explanation is less romantic and tells that in order to retain preservability, the lettuce was covered with a lot of ice, prior to transport by train from the west coast to the east coast. Anyway, ‘iceberg lettuce’ is more crispy and fresh than head lettuce, which is virtually ousted from the kitchen. There is also red iceberg lettuce.

Availability

Netherlands: May - October
Spain: November - May

Also grown by:

• P. van Osch Groentenproducties B.V.
• Primaflor s.a.t.

Jumbo lettuce is the bigger and heavier version of poly lettuce, weighing 34-50 kilos per 100 pieces. This lettuce has darker leaves on the bottom and an inner tender yellow heart. The bigger size is a result of choice of crop species combined with a larger planting distance.

Availability

Netherlands: January - December

Also grown by:

• Fa G. Boon en Zn

Lamb’s lettuce is an annual plant of the honeysuckle species, to which also valerian belongs. Other names are lamb’s succory or dwarf nipplewort. Particularly because the leaves of the lamb’s lettuce have such a nutty flavour already, spicing of cold, tepid or warm lamb’s lettuce dishes becomes unnecessary.

Availability

Netherlands: January - December

Also grown by:

• Tuinbouwbedrijf A. Baatje

Little gem is a mini Roman lettuce with curled leaves. It is regarded as the substitute of iceberg lettuce, having the advantages of more flavour and much longer shelf life.

Availability

Spain: January - December

Also grown by:

• Primaflor s.a.t.

Lollo bionda is originally an Italian lettuce with curly fresh-green leaves. This crispy lettuce has a very soft and sweetish flavour. This light-coloured leaf crop is closely related to the lollo rosso. Both lettuce types are popular as garnish, but as a salad, they are a great bite as well.

Availability

Netherlands: February - December
Spain: November - May

Also grown by:

• P. van Osch Groentenproducties B.V.
• Crotoni Trading BVBA
• Lucassen Agri Cultuur B.V.
• Primaflor s.a.t.
• Puur Origine VOF
• Tuinderij van Vugt
• Van Baalen Growers

Lollo Rosso is originally an Italian lettuce. This lettuce has curly leaves with dark red to purple coloured edges. The leaf of this curly lettuce is very soft and has a somewhat sweet flavour. Lollo rosso is often used to decorate dishes and, as a cut product, for mixed salads. On request both light-red and deep-red varieties are available.

Availability

Netherlands: March - December
Spain: November - May

Also grown by:

• P. van Osch Groentenproducties B.V.
• Crotoni Trading BVBA
• Lucassen Agri Cultuur B.V.
• Primaflor s.a.t.
• Puur Origine VOF
• Tuinderij van Vugt
• Van Baalen Growers

The leaves of the oak leaf lettuce, as the name suggests, look like the leaves of an oak. Usually the colour is green with red-brown edges, but there are also entirely green varieties. The lettuce is mild, tastes tender and somewhat nutty. It is regularly processed in mixed lettuce bags because of its decorative appearance.

Availability

Netherlands: February - December
Spain: November - May

Also grown by:

• P. van Osch Groentenproducties B.V.
• Crotoni Trading BVBA
• Lucassen Agri Cultuur B.V.
• Primaflor s.a.t.
• Puur Origine VOF
• Tuinderij van Vugt
• Van Baalen Growers

Poly lettuce is the ideal head lettuce in the weight class up to 25 kilos per 100. The tender, bright-green crops are grown in greenhouses and are as such, high-quality and have an extremely long shelf-life. Poly lettuce is available throughout the year in boxes with 24 pieces, but also 12 pieces Eps-packing or styro boxes.

Availability

Netherlands: January - December

Also grown by:

• C.J.M. Martens
• G. en W van Turenhout

Purslane is a fast growing leaf vegetable with pulpy reddish stems and green leaves. Approximately three weeks after sowing, the product can be harvested. This is always done by means of a scythe and very early in the morning. Later in the day the product will become feeble which reduces the shelf-life. Purslane can be eaten both raw and cooked and is excellently usable for mash pot.

Availability

Netherlands: March - July

Radicchio rosso or radicchio is one of the chicory species. The product is usually eaten raw. Radicchio is a round bulb with a deep-red colour and white veins. The weight is between 250 and 600 grams. Radicchio rosso is mainly used as garnish and also for mixed salads at processors. The growing occurs in outside soil.

Availability

Netherlands: June - December
Italy: October - June

Also grown by:

• P. van Osch Groentenproducties B.V.
• Compliment V.O.F.

Romaine lettuce is a type of cos lettuce. Romaine lettuce is a vertical, green lettuce with a smooth and somewhat sweet flavour. It is grown in outside soil, as well as in greenhouses during spring and autumn.

Availability

Spain: October - May
Netherlands: April - December

Also grown by:

• P. van Osch Groentenproducties B.V.
• Crotoni Trading BVBA
• Lucassen Agri Cultuur B.V.
• Primaflor s.a.t.

Rucola is a leave vegetable gaining popularity, due to its spicy, somewhat bitter, nutty flavour. Other names for rucola are: roquette, rugula, arugula, colewort and salad rocket. They are indeed the young leaves of the salad rocket. The leaves are narrow, dark green coloured and severely indented.
It is a popular component in salads and is used to add flavour to, for instance soups and sauces. Rucola is low in calories and contains a lot of vitamin C.

Availability

Netherlands: March - December
Italy: January - December

Also grown by:

• 4Growers
• Az. Agr. Altamura Alfonso
• Primaflor s.a.t.
• Tuinbouwbedrijf A. Baatje
• WESSTEIN

Salanova is a so-called multi-leaf lettuce. This means that a crop of Salanova contains two to four times as many leaves as ordinary lettuce. The leaves are just as big and have roughly the same shape. Salanova has as such a compact and full crop. There are several varieties for sale, of which the Salanova Green (green butter head lettuce) and Salanova Red (red butter head lettuce) are best known. The leaves have a mild and tender flavour.

Availability

Netherlands: March - October
Spain: October - May

Also grown by:

• Crotoni Trading BVBA
• Lucassen Agri Cultuur B.V.
• Primaflor s.a.t.
• Tuinderij van Vugt

Turnip tops are the young, harvested leaves of the Chinese cabbage or turnip. Depending on the type, the plant including roots is harvested or cut off at the soil surface. The light-green leaves are oblong and indented. This vegetable has a spicy flavour and, particularly in spring, available in abundance.

Availability

Netherlands: January - July