Little Gem

Little Gem produces small, single-serving heads that fit in the palm of a hand, with crisp, semi-savoyed outer leaves in vivid green wrapping a dense, blanched, tender heart. The foliage combines the crunch of romaine with the sweetness of butterhead types, giving a mild, sweet flavor throughout the tightly packed rosette. Some strains show a refined Boston-type character instead, with a pale yellow heart tightly wrapped in bright green leaves.

The single-serving heads suit individual salads, sandwiches, garnishes, and grilling, and can simply be halved and dressed or used whole for wraps. In England the variety has long been treated as a gourmet lettuce reserved for special occasions, since each head makes a perfect individual portion. Its compact size also lends it to small-space and intensive plantings, including containers, window boxes, and other urban garden settings.

Little Gem gained recognition as a gourmet heirloom in England, where it was popularized as a specialty salad green, and the variety went on to win the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Gardeners can sow short rows at weekly intervals from spring into summer to keep a steady supply of heads coming rather than one large harvest all at once. The plants perform best in cool weather and fertile, well-drained soil, tolerating partial shade as temperatures climb, and the variety is also noted for its heat tolerance.