Kovacs Family Heirloom Lettuce

This large, beautiful crisphead lettuce is truly versatile, delivering very crisp, very juicy, and very tasty leaves that excel in everything from salads to (yes!) soups.

Plants reach 8-10" tall and 16-18" wide and produce firm, uniform heads and green-gray leaves with highly toothed margins.

Lettuce lovers can thank the Kovacs family for this remarkable variety, which has been stewarded by the family for at least 120 years. Donor James Kovacs of Fisherville, Kentucky, noted that his grandfather (John Kovacs) brought this seed with him when he emigrated from Hungary to Pennsylvania in 1905. It’s the main ingredient in a family soup recipe that also contains sautéed onion and celery in a brown roux, with water or chicken broth, milk or half-and-half, and salt and pepper. See the recipe tab for the full recipe.

• Organic
• Heirloom
• Crisp and juicy
• 16-18" wide
• +/- 29,400 seeds per ounce
• From the Collection, 2025

Instructions

Sow continuously for a constant supply of lettuce. Best grown in cooler weather. Plant in full sun or partial shade.

• Direct Seed: 4-6" Apart
• Seed Depth: 1/8"
• Germination: 7-14 Days
• Thin: 15-18" Apart

‘Kovacs Family Heirloom’ Lettuce Soup

“This soup recipe, akin to a cream of spinach soup, was handed down from my grandparents to my parents to me,” James Kovacs of Fisherville, Kentucky, wrote in a letter that accompanied his seed donation. “In the Great Depression, all of the ingredients were [combined to make] free meals from the farm.”

Ingredients:

• Lettuce
• Onion
• Celery
• Flour
• Butter or some other fat
• Water or chicken broth
• Milk or half-and-half
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

Sauté diced onion and celery, then add flour and butter to make a brown roux that is somewhat dark but not quite as dark as for a gumbo. Add water or broth, some milk or half and half, and salt and pepper. Then add a copious number of lettuce leaves, like a colander full, and stir. Turn off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes to wilt the lettuce. An option is to add a teaspoon of cider vinegar to your soup bowl.