Growing Mâche (Corn Salad): A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Mâche, also called corn salad or lamb’s lettuce, is a mild, nutty winter salad green with an unusual quirk: it prefers cold over heat, and its seed goes dormant above 70°F rather than simply germinating slowly.
A cold-weather specialist
Direct-seed only, any time soil temperatures sit between 41 and 68°F. Do not sow once soil has exceeded 68°F, since germination stalls out entirely. Germination itself is slow even in ideal conditions, taking 10 to 14 days. Sow 1 inch apart in rows 4 to 18 inches apart, thinned to 3 inches. This temperature preference makes mâche a strong candidate for a cold frame, unheated tunnel, or open winter field in mild climates, where warmer-season greens would simply refuse to sprout.
Harvest whole young rosettes
Cut young rosettes at the root attachment when they reach 2 to 3 inches tall, taking the entire small plant rather than individual leaves. Mâche works well eaten alone or blended into a salad mix.
Mâche has no recorded companions or antagonists in our data. See the full companion guide for mâche for how it’s tracked. At 9 plants per square foot, it’s a dense, cold-season crop for the Garden Designer, best planned for the coldest stretch of the growing calendar rather than alongside summer greens.
Source: Mâche / Corn Salad: Key Growing Information, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Companion planting guide for Mâche (Corn Salad) · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 2-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Method: Direct sow: Direct-sow outside. Mâche (Corn Salad) doesn't transplant well, or doesn't need the extra time indoors.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Mâche (Corn Salad) plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 9 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 2-4 in.
Varieties worth considering
- 'Vit' mâche: Johnny's Selected Seeds' primary mâche offering, described as mild-tasting and slightly nutty, called the ideal winter salad item; there's little named-cultivar diversity beyond it in the seed trade this plant is sold through. (source)
Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.
Where to buy mâche seeds
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews. See the sources cited on each item.
See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing mâche (corn salad)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Mâche (Corn Salad): A mild, nutty winter salad green that prefers cold over heat, with seed that goes dormant above 70F, the opposite problem most greens have.
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