Iceberg lettuce: Wash or not?

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I love the stuff.
Some turn up their noses at it as if it were the trash that mere commoners eat but, I like it a lot, so more for me.
I especially enjoy it in wedges and dipped in bleu cheese dressing I make.

But I've never raised any so I don't know how it grows.
Does it grow from the inside out or the outside in?

Trees add growth on the outside beneath the bark and on top but a nail driven into a tree trunk won't be any higher off the ground in 50 years than it was the day it was driven in.

If Iceberg lettuce grows by adding leaves on the outer ball then the pesticides used to protect it will need a good washing off. If the stuff grows from the inside causing the outer leaves to continually expand then only the outer few leaves are suspect.

So which it is? Any sage and tillage wise gardners know?

[glenn bradley]

A wedge of ice berg with bacon crumbles over it and some vinaigrette? Ahhhhh. I wash mine.

[Casey Gooding]

It grows like a cabbage. It tastes like nothing.
Needless to say, I am an iceberg scoffer.

[glenn bradley]

It grows like a cabbage. It tastes like nothing.
Needless to say, I am an iceberg scoffer.

That's OK, I don't follow sports. We all have our oddities :D.

[Jim Finn]

[QUOTE=Cliff Rohrabacher;1171943]I love the stuff.
Some turn up their noses at it //// I DO! ///// "Does it grow from the inside out or the outside in?"
/////////////// Inside out. Older leaves are on the outside!

[Brian Kent]

Yes, it grows from the inside. I wash mine. When I grow them, I wash the bugs out of it:D.

[David G Baker]

I remove the outer leaves and eat the rest as is. I love iceberg and have always considered myself a commoner, the so called "upper crust" do not know what they are missing.

[Jim Becker]

I remove the outer leaves and eat the rest as is.

Ditto. I do the same with other lettuce products, but if I have to wash, I try very hard to also dry it before use. I don't like soggy salad.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Count me in as one of the Iceberg lovers! We always wash the lettuce but then use a salad spinner to remove excess water. Works great!

[Frank Hagan]

Wash if it needs it ... get the bugs and dirt off .. then dry it.

For a salad, before you put the dressing on, stick it in the freezer for a few minutes. Nothing better than ice cold iceberg lettuce!

Except for all the other leafy things I've grown to love, like romaine lettuce.

[Craig D Peltier]

Ditto. I do the same with other lettuce products, but if I have to wash, I try very hard to also dry it before use. I don't like soggy salad.

Umm nothing like Kiln dried lettuce Jim :)