Corn Salad
Corn Salad is a vegetable in the Caprifoliaceae family. It grows best in full sun to part shade with medium moisture, and is listed for USDA zones 2-13. Plants reach harvest about 34–58 days after planting and sit about 4 inches apart.
Varieties
4 from Seeds Now, True Leaf Market & High Mowing · sorted by days to maturity▸Dutch34–46 days
Can tolerate hot temperatures; Direct sow; Grows well in full sun; Grows well with containers; Grows well with raised beds; Matures in <90 days; Start indoors; Super easy to grow
Valerianella locusta (aka Corn Salad) is a small annual plant that is eaten as a leaf vegetable. It has a characteristic nutty flavor, dark green color, and soft texture, and is popularly served as salad greens. //Wikipedia Corn Salad has a delicate flavor, similar to a butterhead lettuce. It is quite hardy and requires very little care while remaining practically free of pests & disease. Corn salad is also known for growing vigorously in almost any soil! We think Corn Salad tastes best right out of the garden with a light drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Once you try this cold-hardy green, you'll be sure to make it a staple in your fall/winter gardens every year. Day to Maturity | only 40 days
View on Seeds Now ↗▸French34–46 days
Can tolerate hot temperatures; Direct sow; Grows well in full sun; Grows well with containers; Grows well with raised beds; Matures in <90 days; Start indoors; Super easy to grow
Valerianella locusta (aka Corn Salad) is a small annual plant that is eaten as a leaf vegetable. It has a characteristic nutty flavor, dark green color, and soft texture, and is popularly served as salad greens. //Wikipedia Corn Salad has a delicate flavor, similar to a butterhead lettuce. It is quite hardy and requires very little care while remaining practically free of pests & disease. Corn salad is also known for growing vigorously in almost any soil! We think Corn Salad tastes best right out of the garden with a light drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Once you try this cold-hardy green, you'll be sure to make it a staple in your fall/winter gardens every year. Day to Maturity | only 40 days
View on Seeds Now ↗▸Dutch Broad Leaved42–58 days
Heirloom; Container; Vegetable; Annual
50 days. Forms rosettes of smooth, spoon-shaped leaves coveted by fine chefs. Prized as early spring green. Fairly hardy this green can be mulched with straw to overwinter in cold areas. Plant seeds in late summer through fall and again in early spring. Harvest young leaves for use in salads. Harvest full plant when flower shoot appears as quality deteriorate after flowering. Approx. 9,100 seeds/oz.
Growing notes: Seeds Per Package: 1 g - Approximately 325 Seeds; 1 oz - Approximately 9,100 Seeds; 4 oz - Approximately 36,400 Seeds; 1 lb - Approximately 145,000 Seeds
View on True Leaf Market ↗▸Vit42–58 days
Spring/fall crop; Upright habit
Vigorous winter salad leaf with delicious, nutty flavor and succulent, crisp texture. Very cold-hardy, versatile green forming attractive rosettes of glossy leaves. Excellent in the hoophouse, tolerating cool, moist conditions and downy mildew. From Sativa. 13M seeds/oz. Claytonia Vit Mâche
Growing notes: Days to maturity are from from direct seeding. Specialty greens are a broad category of leafy plants, many of which are cold hardy and fast growing. Crops in this group are gaining popularity due to their ease of culture and unique flavors and colors.
View on High Mowing ↗
Plant spacing
In a square-foot bed, space corn salad about 4 in apart — that fits 9 plants in each 1-foot square (3×3). Wider rows or containers space the same.
Plan your corn salad planting
Add corn salad to a free GardenDraft plan and get sow, transplant, and harvest dates computed for your ZIP code — with a drag-and-drop bed layout and reminders when it’s time to plant.
Start your free plan →At a glance
Storing & preserving
Best used right away — quality drops fast. Use within a day or two — sugars turn to starch fast.
- Freeze: Blanch briefly, cool, then freeze — keeps color and texture.
- Can: Pressure-can (a low-acid vegetable).
General home-preservation guidance — for tested processing times and safety, follow the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
Growing timeline
Companion planting — with cited sources
From US/Canada cooperative-extension publications and peer-reviewed studies. Evidence-tier dots show how strongly each recommendation is backed: ●●● peer-reviewed mechanism · ●● extension consensus · ● traditional knowledge with a plausible mechanism.
Pairs well with (2)
- CarrotEvidence tier C: Traditional practice with plausible mechanism but limited empirical replicationshade-shelter
Sown as a low catch crop between rows of carrots and other roots in cool weather.
Source: S7
- Common CabbageEvidence tier C: Traditional practice with plausible mechanism but limited empirical replicationshade-shelter
Mâche is a low, quick cool-season catch crop traditionally sown in the gaps between slower brassicas without competing.
Source: S7
Sources cited
- S7
- University of Minnesota Extension
Care & troubleshooting
No curated care & troubleshooting advice for corn salad yet. Our extension-sourced library currently focuses on common edible crops; we're expanding it over time.