It makes a wonderful interim crop while you are waiting for your springleaf lettuce to mature. Mache is also known as lamb's lettuce or corn salad, the latter because it is planted after the corn is harvested. Early fall, up to Thanksgiving, is a good time to plant. Choose a sunny location in well-drained soil. You can either broadcast the seed or plant it in rows.
Germination takes almost a month, but the plants remain quite small -almost dormant.
They will be just a dot of green on the frozen ground. These little plants overwinter well. When the ground warms slightly in late winter, perhaps February, they begin to form small rosette-like clusters. This is when you can harvest them for salad. The taste is quite mild, nutty, with just a bit of lettuce-like crunchiness.