Lettuce Red Sails

This large, open lettuce has a high heat tolerance, which makes it all kinds of perfect for growing in South Africa. The ruffled tips of Red Sails leaves are (surprise) a deep red, shading into a bronzy-maroon and finally becoming green toward the base. They look like they’ve had an excellent ombre dip-dye and yes, we’re a little jealous.

This variety gets ten points for versatility. Use the baby leaves, teenage heads or full-size veg and you can’t go wrong. The soft texture and buttery flavour appeals to pretty much everyone – unless you truly hate lettuce, and then we’re not sure why you’re reading this. Back away slowly.