My aim is to eat salad leaves from the garden at least once a day, with as wide an assortment as possible but nearly always with lettuce as the key component. 

If you also factor in lettuce eaten by my family and friends, plus those that bolt and end up either being fed to the chickens or thrown on the compost heap, I suspect we grow at least 1,000 lettuce plants a year.

Over 40-odd years that makes for a fair bit of experience.

Back in the 1960s when I was growing up, lettuce was invariably accompanied by hard-boiled eggs (which I hated and https://tupodio.com/ still dislike to this day), beetroot and tomato and served with salad cream or, on special occasions, homemade mayonnaise. 

British gardening expert Monty Don shared his advice for good germination, slug protection and a steady supply when growing lettuce.

Pictured: Monty with a selection of lettuce leaves from his garden

The concept of a green salad or even salad dressing was still lodged on the other side of the Channel.

But fresh lettuce, picked, washed, dried and eaten within the hour, accompanied only by good olive oil and either balsamic vinegar or lemon juice, salt and pepper, is a dish worthy of anyone.

I never tire of it.

RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share Of course there is lettuce and lettuce.

In fact there are four kinds of lettuce – cos (or romaine), loose-leaf, butterhead and crisphead (or iceberg).

Cos are the most common and include garden favourites like ‘Little Gem’ and ‘Lobjoits Green’; I also grow a good red cos and ‘Winter Density’.

The leaves grow upright and tight and the combination of crispness and rich flavour makes it a must for any garden anywhere.

<div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS home" data-version="2" id="mol-6485b050-e984-11eb-b575-8bf6224790b6" website Don&apos;s pals benefit from his bumper lettuce crop each year