Hanson lettuce is an heirloom variety developed by the Hanson family of Maryland during the 1800s.It is the progenitor of the modern iceberg lettuce, yet has a looser head and brighter green color.Colonel George Hanson released his seed in 1870 to the Henry Dreer Seed Company of Philadelphia, where it attained national prominence. In George Hanson’s words: “this lettuce is superior in every respect to any lettuce I ever saw, for these reasons: the heads are the largest, a single one is frequently large enough for an ordinary sized family; the leaves are exceedingly crisp and tender, and (if cut early in the morning) seem to break like pipe stems; the color is of the most beautiful green without, and white within, and is entirely free from that peculiar grassy taste found in some varieties.”
It is a fantastic lettuce all around, yet it ranges from a loose leaf with no distinctive head to a very nice head, but either form is packed with flavor!
