my mesclun mix bolted!

ladyyoung

this is my first year having a veg garden and so my first year growing lettuce.  i kept putting off harvesting my mesclun leaves b/c i wasn't sure they were fully mature.  well, then they started flowering so i harvested it all (along with my arugula) today and the leaves are extremely bitter/spicy. 

adding to this is the fact that, in cutting the leaves off, i also cut a few weeds that were hiding under the lettuce so I'm paranoid i have weeds in my lettuce.  i did pick through and take out what looked like weeds.  what would you do with the real musclun leaves?  maybe cook with them?  or just deal with the bitter/spicy tasste in my salad?

 

WendyGR

I'm guessing it's the mesclun that's bitter because my arugula bolted and after doing some internet research I discovered the flowers are actually served in fine restaurants, and when I tasted them, it was really quite good. I wouldn't worry too much about getting some weeds in there - most are edible. If it's bitter I'd suggest stir frying them with some sort of balsamic sauce. Good luck!

ladyyoung

WendyGR:

I'm guessing it's the mesclun that's bitter because my arugula bolted and after doing some internet research I discovered the flowers are actually served in fine restaurants, and when I tasted them, it was really quite good. I wouldn't worry too much about getting some weeds in there - most are edible. If it's bitter I'd suggest stir frying them with some sort of balsamic sauce. Good luck!

Thanks, this is the answer I was looking for!  (especially the reassurance that it's ok to eat a weed or two!)  And yes, it was the mesclun that was bitter - I kept the arugula separate.

WendyGR

some weeds are actually delicacies - I've been taking an at home herbalism class along with some foraging walks and next year I might just give up trying to grow lettuce and spinach and eat lambs quarters since that grew like a . . . weed ;-)