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Lettuces are a food with transportative powers. The leafy vegetable can provide the most delicate of flavors in the dead of winter and then in spring enhance the brightness of a meal. The freshness of this plant is stunning in its adaptability, and many Tennessee growers have their egos stoked after presenting a locally grown lettuce crop to their public. On the barest winter day, I have found a bowl of mixed greens the needed contrast and in early spring a harbinger of summer realms.
The flavors of lettuces vary from mild to strong, and their appearance can differ in a charmingly curious manner from heads that spread wide open in a wavy design to others that curl into a ball.
They can be faint of color to dark green, some are red and others speckled. Since heat makes the plants bolt, a home gardener must be mindful to shade the plants if grown in summer or rather focus on spring, fall or winter plantings. Many Tennessee farmers specialize in lettuce varieties and utilize techniques that spark tasty dining with a minimum of concoction.
“Customers love the fresh lettuce,” says John Dysinger of Bountiful Blessings Farm, a winter CSA in Williamsport. “It’s a splash of color and brings vibrant life to the table. We like to think that it’s not only promoting physical health, but emotional and even spiritual health as well.”
Amazingly, lettuces can handle temperatures down in the 20s if protected by floating row covers over wire hoops to prevent damage. After the holidays and into the spring, many farms like the Dysinger’s use hoop houses for their lettuces as the sheltered environment creates a tempered refuge for growth and harvest.
Farmer Brown’s in Warren County grows lettuce crops using hydroponics, the process of growing plants in water without soil. The Browns say the advantages over soil include efficient use of water and minerals and nutrition regulation that turns out “some of the finest lettuce in the world, period.” They work to produce their dynamic lettuces with a pest management system that makes use of tree frogs, ladybugs and praying mantises.
Windermere Farms and Apiaries have an ingenious irrigation system in which piquancy is enhanced by runoff from the hills into the ponds pumped to tanks on the ridge of their acreage. The plants are then gravity-fed as needed. Ken Lansing, designer of the Memphis farm, has an affinity for a pristine salad and has created unique peppered vinegar that amplifies his dressings.
Which brings me to the creative assembly – Tennessee grown – of the beautiful rustic salad and her dressing.
Rustic Salad
Ingredients
Tennessee-grown lettuces such as red loose leaf, green loose leaf, bibb and romaine
Other local greens such as arugula, mache, kale, baby Swiss chard, sorrel, tatsoi or spinach
Garden-fresh herbs such as parsley, fennel, chervil, lemon balm, lovage or marjoram, chopped
Roasted or raw vegetables such as carrots or squash, sliced
Cheese (optional)
Chopped nuts or seeds (optional)
Simple Vinaigrette
3 parts olive oil
1 part vinegar or lemon juice
Minced garlic to taste
Dijon mustard to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
Clean and tear the leaves to use as soon as possible. Chop your choice of fresh herbs from your own garden or from your local farmer. Add vegetables, cheese and nuts or seeds of your choosing.
Toss salad with the vinaigrette, serve and enjoy.
Lettuce farmers across Tennessee:
Windermere Farms & Apiaries: www.winfarms.com, (901) 326-6379
Bountiful Blessings Farm: www.bountifulblessingsfarm.com, (931) 583-2701
Farmer Brown’s Hydroponic Gardens: www.farmerbrownsgardens.com, (931) 607-3446
Story by Roben Mounger
