Harvest of the Month

We got a mixture of lettuces to try from Harvest of the Month.  We sampled romaine, red lettuce, escarole, radicchio, butter lettuce and a bunch of green onions.  I fried the tortillas and chopped them up like croutons!  It was so yummy!

Below are some fun facts about lettuce!  

What are the four main types of lettuces?  Butterhead (boston bibb); Crisphead (iceberg); Looseleaf(red leaf, green leaf) and Romaine. Some of these lettuces are harvested as heads, while with others you can selectively harvest outer lettuce leaves before the plant reaches full maturity.

What is Crisphead? Lettuces that have been cultivated to remove the bitterness.

Did you know that Iceberg lettuce got its name from the fact that California growers started shipping it covered with heaps of crushed ice in the 1920s? It had previously been called Crisphead lettuce.

What is the recommended serving size for salad greens? ……. Two cupped handfuls.

Did you know that salad greens are one of the oldest vegetables? – There is evidence of its cultivation appearing as early as 2680 BC.

Did you know that Thomas Jefferson had 19 varieties of lettuce growing in his garden at Monticello?

Did you know that Iceberg lettuce takes about 85 days from sowing to maturity whereas leaf lettuces average only 45 to 50 days from sowing to maturity?

Did you know that the top vegetable and vegetable products consumed in 2014 were (in order): Potatoes, lettuce, onion, tomatoes, carrot, corn, green beans, pasta sauce, peppers, shelled beans, broccoli and mixed combo vegetables. (Produce for Better Health)

They ate it all!