Lactuca sativa
Origin: Germany via Minneapolis
Improvement status: Cultivar
Seeds per packet: ~80
Germination tested 12/2024: 99%
Life cycle: Annual
Jim Tjepkema is a Minneapolis resident and long-time member of Seed Savers Exchange. He maintains about 40 of his favorite crop varieties. In 2021, after EFN co-founder Dusty Hinz and his family opened a garden center in Minneapolis, Jim came in to check it out. They got to talking all things seeds and are now working to get some of Jim's favorites out into the wider world.
This lettuce was collected by a member of the Seed Savers Exchange from a German neighbor many decades ago, and that member shared it with Jim over 30 years ago. Mary Schultz, a seed saver who had a very large number of lettuce varieties in her collection, got some seed from Jim and told him that it was one the best lettuces she'd ever grown.
Some would probably consider this variety a loose-leafed head lettuce. It forms upright plants with somewhat densely packed leaves in the middle. However, Jim has always treated it as a leaf lettuce, picking the outer leaves to eat and leaving the central ones to get bigger for later, making it a nice cut-and-come-again lettuce.
The paddle-shaped leaves have a somewhat thick central rib that is a little like romaine. The leaves are wrinkled and dark green with brownish-red along the edges and tip. Flavor is very good. A colorful addition to salads.
It does well in Minneapolis, maturing fairly early and standing well. The mature plants are large and do best if given some space.
These seeds were grown by Jim Tjepkema in south Minneapolis.
