The Makkelijke Moestuin in 3 minutes

The Makkelijke Moestuin in 3 minutes

Here you'll read how, with our system, you can harvest up to 5x more than from a regular vegetable garden. On just a few square meters, all natural, pesticide-free, and with almost no work.

The full Makkelijke Moestuin guide

If you want to read everything.

Makkelijke Moestuin vs traditional vegetable garden

1. Makkelijke Moestuin vs traditional vegetable garden

Giving each plant enough light, air, water, space, nutrients, and attention is pretty tricky. Not in a Makkelijke Moestuin: there, it happens all by itself.

 About us

2. About us

Why Jelle started Makkelijke Moestuin, how it grew into a movement, and why we work differently from most companies.

 The garden bed

3. The garden bed

The garden bed is the heart of the Makkelijke Moestuin system. Its smart setup gives your plants almost everything they need from the start.

 The soil mix

4. The soil mix

In a Makkelijke Moestuin, you don't use garden soil but a special growing mix in which all your plants thrive.

 The water reservoir

5. The water reservoir

Why a smart water reservoir helps your plants grow better while saving you time and effort: how it works, and how and when to water.

6. The sowing system

In a Makkelijke Moestuin, you sow in 30 x 30 cm squares instead of rows, placing each plant in the right position with the right spacing.

Heat Today will be hot in the south of the Netherlands: up to 32 degrees! Check whether your reservoir is still full, whether the mix is still moist, shade vulnerable plants around midday, and wait with sowing until it cools down.

More tips
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Cos lettuce

Product information

Sowing in:
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F
M
A
M
J
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€2.79

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Description

Our cos lettuce - or Romaine lettuce - is tasty and crisp. Handles hot weather better than other lettuces. And even better for you!

Specifications

Sowing time: March - Sept
Height: 15-25 cm
Weight: 0.5 grams

In the app

Sowing: 1 March - 30 September

Level 1

seeds sown

Level 2

first seedlings

Level 3

thinned seedlings

Level 4

small plants

Level 5

first harvest

Level 6

harvesting continues

Level 7

large plants

  • Currently only shipping to the Netherlands and Belgium
  • Choose your preferred delivery date
  • Sent by PostNL or Transmission
  • Track & Trace in your inbox
  • The app helps you with almost everything you do in your vegetable garden: sowing, tending, and harvesting.
  • If something goes wrong, the app tells you what steps to take.
  • If that doesn’t work, you can ask us for advice.
  • If that still doesn’t help, we’ll look for other solutions together. Until we get it right.

Cos lettuce

Cos lettuce is a cross between romaine and head lettuce. The compact lettuce heads are a perfect fit for the 30x30 cm square patches in a Planty Garden. This lettuce can handle heat well, so it’s a good choice to grow in summer.
  • Species name: Little Gem - Sucrine
  • Family: leaf
  • Plants per square patch: 4
  • Height: 15 to 25 cm
  • Sowing time: March - September
  • Sowing depth: 0.5 to 1 cm
  • Germination time: 5 to 18°C in 2 to 14 days
  • Time to harvest: after 6-8 weeks
  • Sunlight: can grow in sun or shade
Want to buy cos lettuce seeds? We sell seed bags separately, or you can get them as part of a seed pack.

What do you need to grow your own cos lettuce?

Besides the seeds, you need:
Medium-sized cos lettuce growing in a Makkelijke Moestuin raised bed
Medium-sized cos lettuce in a Makkelijke Moestuin raised bed

How do you sow and grow cos lettuce?

Cos lettuce is included in the free Makkelijke Moestuin app. Use it, and you'll get step-by-step guidance from seed to harvest.

Each vegetable goes through a number of stages - we call them levels. The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and checks in when your plants are ready for the next.

So, you don't need to know how to grow cos lettuce before you start: the app takes you through every step.

But if you'd like to read more about those steps, here's what the process looks like:
Four sowing holes in one square for cos lettuce

Level 1: Sowing cos lettuce

Choose a square in one of the first two rows of your raised bed. Loosen and moisten the mix, then sow as follows:

  1. make 4 holes in the square, no deeper than 1 cm

  2. put 2 to 3 seeds in each hole

  3. carefully close the holes

Depending on the weather and the time of year, you will see the first green shoots after about a week.

Cos lettuce seedlings
Cos lettuce seedlings

Level 2: Cos lettuce seedlings

If you see the first seedlings, you know you're on track.

They probably won't all come up at once, but after another week, you should see most of them.

Then it's time for the next level. 

Level 3: Thinning cos lettuce seedlings

More than one seedling may come up in the spots you sowed. Choose the best seedlings and remove the rest: that's called thinning out. It might sound harsh, but it's necessary. The remaining plants will have the room they need to grow. 

So, you'll end up with 4 healthy cos lettuce plants.

If you see places where nothing came up, sow a few more seeds. 

And keep an eye out for snails: they love tender seedlings.
Small cos lettuce plant, about 2-3 weeks old
Small cos lettuce plant, about 2-3 weeks old

Level 4: Caring for your cos lettuce plants

After a week or 2, your seedlings will become small plants.

You don't need to do much for the next few weeks: water the base of the plants if the weather is dry and remove dead or yellow leaves once in a while. Easy 🙂
Growing cos lettuce plants
Caring for cos lettuce is easy

Level 5: Harvesting cos lettuce

At this stage, it's about 7 to 8 weeks after sowing and the plants are ready for the first harvest.

There are 2 ways to harvest:

Option 1:

Cut or pick the individual leaves. As long as you leave the center, new leaves will continue to grow.

Then you can keep harvesting for a few weeks.

Option 2:

Harvest the whole heads. Cut off 1 or 2 of the heads just above the soil mix. They'll probably be a bit small at first but really tasty. 

Let the remaining heads keep growing. You'll harvest them in the coming weeks.
Picking cos lettuce leaves
Cos lettuce plants with the outer leaves harvested

How do you use cos lettuce?

The crisp lettuce is a great for green salads. It goes well with all kinds of other lettuce. You can add fruit like apples or pears. Or use it to make a tasty lentil, pea, or bean salad.

You can also stew the leaves (briefly), or stir fry them. This is a great option when the plants are already flowering.
Cos lettuce: ready to harvest in a Makkelijke Moestuin raised bed
Cos lettuce: ready to harvest

The last levels

Keep harvesting the cos lettuce until the plants shoot up from the middle. This means that they'll start to flower soon.

That upward growth means it's time to harvest right away. The leaves won't be as tasty raw but are still good with mashed potatoes or in a stir fry.

The last level: empty your cos lettuce patch or your MM-Mini and prepare it for the next round of sowing.

So, what is stopping you from sowing and growing your own cos lettuce?

It is an easy vegetable to grow, super healthy and delicious. 

Plus, with our materials and app, it is almost impossible to fail 🙂

Good luck!