In September, for many gardeners across the country, the summer garden either lingers, languishes or has been dispatched for the year. But the soil is still warm and Indian summer days offer the prospect of a fall lettuce crop. Even if your first frost usually comes in early November, there’s still time to grow mesclun lettuce.

In the USA, mesclun has come to mean any mixture of young salad greens that is sown, grown and cut all together. Despite the fact that many mesclun mixtures are now available pre-bagged in supermarkets nationwide, nothing can compare with mesclun harvested from your own garden. Check out a short video, Grow Baby Leaf Mesclun Lettuce on the Renee’s Garden website.

The days to harvest for most mesclun mixes is 35-40 days so you can plant now and enjoy fresh lettuce from the garden into the fall. Lettuce will tolerate a light frost, especially with a row cover and even better with a  makeshift cold frame. Mesclun lettuce grows well in containers too.

Here are some of the tantalizing mesclun mixes from Renee’s Garden:
Sweet Greens & Reds
Cut and Come Again 
Five Variety Blend
Heirloom Cutting Mix
Italian Misticanza
Monet’s Garden Mesclun
Wine Country Blend
Asian Baby Leaf Blend

Botanical Interests also has a nice selection of baby greens.

Your favorite seed house or local nursery may have mesclun seed mixes worth a try. I’ve also gathered odd lots of lettuce seeds to make my own thrifty mix. Get growing!