The logistics of keeping lettuce fresh on the road and through a four hour market day is difficult – we want people who buy our lettuce at 1pm to get as good a product as the folks who bought at 9 am! Here’s what we do to ensure the lettuce we grow is always worth your money at the market table:
- We always pick our lettuce the night before. Lettuce picked when it’s cool tends to be sweeter than lettuce picked in the heat of the day. Plus, your heads are less than 24 hours old by the time you get them.
- Within 2 hours of picking, our lettuce is rinsed in cold water and placed in the refrigerator. This means it’s cool when it’s packed for travel to market, and that helps it stay fresh longer. We also pack our cooler and our bags with ice before we travel, to keep the lettuce at a fridge-like temperature.
- We keep our display bins filled with ice, too, so the lettuce you see at the market isn’t getting warm and wilty while it waits for a buyer.
- Every head of lettuce is packed whole in bags to help retain its moisture and stay crunchy. We pack heads rather than salad mixes because the leaves retain more structure and moisture when still attached to the core. While this means you’ll have to do the final wash, we think the flavour and crunch will reward your efforts!
We’d like to thank everyone at the Farmer’s Market in Stettler for stopping by our stall, and for buying our lettuce. If you have questions or comments you’d like to share about anything you’ve seen or tried, please don’t hesitate to let us know. We’ll be in Stettler every Tuesday for you to tell us in person, or you can use the contact form on this website to send us an email.
We’re looking forward to bringing you more quality produce for you to share with your families!