Corn Salad

(Valerianella locusta) With its characteristic nutty flavor, dark green color and soft texture, corn salad is a cold-season green that is gaining in popularity — and rightfully so! This tender salad green, also known as mache, is one of the first vegetables to sprout in the spring and one of the cold hardiest. Succulent and tasty, mache is delicious on its own or mixed with other salad greens. Ideal germination temperature is 45-70F. Sow ¼ inch deep, two inches apart, in early fall or late winter, in rich and moist soil. Seeds germinate in 7-14 days. Mache is much more adapted to grow in cool conditions versus hot ones, so be sure to time planting to have plants mature in cooler weather. Growing in a cold frame or low tunnel may allow harvest all winter. Harvest like lettuce or cut as needed.