Salad, but Make it Autumn

The Quiet Greens of Autumn

A spotlight on mizuna, miner’s lettuce, and corn salad—chill-loving salad greens that deserve more love.

When we think of salads, our minds often wander to summer—ripe tomatoes, sun-warmed cucumbers, and lettuce that bolts at the first hint of heat. But autumn and winter have their own leafy legends. They're quieter. More composed. They don’t scream for attention like a beefsteak tomato might—but they thrive when the temperatures drop and the soil cools.

These are the cool-season salad greens that keep showing up when others call it quits.

Here are three that deserve a spot in your patch this season:

🟢 Mizuna – The Wild One

A Japanese mustard green with frilly leaves and a peppery bite, mizuna is like rocket’s cooler cousin who went to art school and grows effortlessly through winter. It adds texture, heat, and a bit of flair to any salad mix. Plus, it’s a cut-and-come-again champ—just snip what you need and let it keep doing its thing.

🟢 Miner’s Lettuce – The Tender Forager

Once eaten by gold rush miners to stave off scurvy, miner’s lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata) is a wild, juicy little leaf that grows happily in shady corners and cooler weather. It has a gentle flavour, almost buttery in texture, and those delicate round leaves look like something out of a fairytale. Ideal for gardeners who like their greens with a little backstory.

🟢 Corn Salad (Mâche) – The Soft-Spoken Star

Don’t let the name fool you—it’s not corn, and it’s not flashy. But corn salad, also known as mâche, and lamb’s lettuce, is one of the softest, most luxurious greens you can grow. It forms tidy little rosettes, has a sweet, nutty flavour, and shrugs off frost like it was born for it (because it was). In France, it’s been a salad staple since forever, and we think it’s time it caught on here too.

💚 Cool-Growing Tips

• Direct sow these greens from autumn through early winter.

• They’ll appreciate a bit of moisture and partial shade, but they’re tough cookies.

• Harvest leaf-by-leaf or whole plants, depending on the variety and how impatient you are.

So if your summer lettuce is looking tired and your salad bowl feels empty, consider turning to these cool-season standouts. They’re tender, tasty, and quietly spectacular—the kind of plants that don’t mind a little chill and don’t ask for much in return.

Just a little space in your garden, and maybe a spot at your table.