Lettuce Talk with Durham Farmers' Market

This week, let's talk lettuce.  Lettuce is available year round at the Durham Farmers' Market, but it isn't the first vegetable that comes to mind during the middle of July.

Lettuce is primarily a cool season crop. The Market is filled with lettuce in the spring and fall. As the weather warms, many varieties of lettuce, start to bolt or go to seed.  When lettuce plants bolt, the leaves get tough, bitter and milky.  As this  happens, many farmers decide to focus on other summer crops, but a number of our farmers have figured out how to grow lettuce as the temperatures rise above 80 degrees.

Here are several factors farmers keep in mind as they grow lettuce in the summer: 

Water.  Lettuce plants are made up of 95% water, so it is important to keep the lettuce plants well watered as the heat rises.

Shade.  In the spring and fall, lettuce thrives in a sunny spot in the garden.  But, in the summer, direct, intense sunlight can quickly burn and dry up the tender lettuce leaves.  So, farmers grow these plants in the shade.  Some use trees or other tall plants to do the shading.  Others use shade cloth to make sure that the plants stay shaded from the strong summer sun.

Variety.  Plant varieties are always a big consideration for farmers with any type of vegetable.  To successfully grow lettuce in the summer time, farmers choose heat tolerant varieties.  These  have been bred to thrive in summer heat.  These varieties stay sweet and don't bolt as quickly as varieties that are suited for cooler temperatures.

Harvesting Temperature.  To ensure that lettuce can make the journey from the field to the Market to your table, farmers take great care to harvest their lettuce at the coolest times of the day (early morning).  It is also important that they get the field heat out of them.  This is done by plunging the lettuce into cool water and quickly moving it to a cooler so that it remains cool and crisp for you at the Market.

Fresh this Week
Fruit: Table Grapes, Figs, Watermelon, Cantelope, Peaches, Blueberries,  Blackberries
  
Vegetables:  Field tomatoes, Long Beans,  Arugula, Beans (green, yellow, Roma, filet, purple), Beets, Butterbeans, Cabbage, Cherry Tomatoes, Corn, Collards,  Cucumbers,  Dandelion Greens, Eggplant, Garlic,  Herbs (Basil, Cilantro Oregano, Parsley, Dill, Chives, Mint),  Kale, Lambs Quarter, Leeks, Lettuce,  Okra, Onions, Pea Shoots, Peppers (sweet, hot, Padron), Potatoes, Purple Hull Peas, Salad Mix, Shallots, Swiss Chard,  Summer Squash,  Tomatillos, Tomatoes (red and green),  Zucchini

Flowers:  Agrostemma, Asiatic Lillies, Campanula, Dahlia, Delphiniums, Lisianthus, Snap Dragon, Sunflowers, Zinnia

Meats: Beef, Bison, Chicken, Duck, Goat/Chevon, Lamb, Pork

And: Honey, Chicken and Duck Eggs, Flour, Yellow & White Cornmeal, Grits, Pecans, Wines, Fresh and Aged Goats and Cows Milk Cheeses, Baked Goods, Pasta, Beer, Wine, Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Preserves, Wool, Landscaping Plants