The First Lettuce Harvest of the Season
January 20th, 2021
The dry weather over the past week allowed us to continue transplanting vegetables into our beds in preparation for spring. This time of year is characterized by a predominance of leafy greens as they prefer the cooler weather. Several varieties of lettuce are currently in the ground along with radicchio, cabbage, kale, and Asian greens like Yu Choy Sum. Our most recent planting session consisted of iceberg lettuce, a nostalgic variety that has been frequently requested by local chefs.
This week will mark the first lettuce harvest of the season for the farm! Both our Salanova and Coastal Star lettuces have just started to reach the optimal harvesting size. Salanova (pictured above) is a green butter lettuce variety that grows in a dense rosette and has a delicate, buttery flavor. Coastal Star is a romaine variety that forms heavy, oblong heads with a crisp, sweet flavor. Both of these will be available at the farm stand located on the farm on Saturday from 10am-noon.
Have you had a chance to pick up any of our Badger Flame beets from the farm stand? This variety was bred for flavor, yielding a deliciously sweet and tender beet without the earthiness. As you can see below, the interior of these beets is striking with vibrant golden hues. We prefer to leave the greens attached to our beets when harvesting so that both the root and greens can be enjoyed. The greens have a similar flavor and texture to Swiss chard and can be prepared in the same way. As for the roots, this variety was bred to be enjoyed both raw and cooked. Farmer Josh likes to keep it simple when it comes to their preparation, opting to thinly slice the raw beets, season them with salt and pepper, and finish with fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.
