farm lifegrowing A Story About Lettuce Amy Smith ·November 12, 2024 And all the other things that make a salad, perfect. ### Asteracae, Brassicaceae, Chenopopianeae Or the three families of vegetables used in the salad shown above — language which means very little to most people who didn't specifically study the topic or frequently find themselves reading something about lettuce or other various plants. Present company is a little of both. In 2023 the top three grossing lettuce varieties were Romaine with $1.54 billion in sales, followed by Iceberg with $1.33 billion and loose leaf coming in at a total of $1.25 billion. For clarification, loose leaf is generally considered to be any lettuce that doesn't form a complete head. Iceberg is the least nutrient-rich lettuce produced, and frankly, it's kind of everywhere and is best eaten doused in salad dressing for flavor — but it is really cheap. Don't get me wrong, Iceberg still has its fair share of folate and Vitamin A, but otherwise it is actually considered to be the least nutrient dense salad green. Romaine however brings Vitamin K and phytonutrients to the party and is considered to be very nutrient rich. But they leave so much on the table. I'm not even just talking nutritional value. I'm talking color, vibrancy, texture, and flavor that when put together can be a delicious, beautiful, explosion of flavor that becomes a show stopper all on its own and a nutritional powerhouse. If you bring in the "sidekicks" — Kale, mustards, spinach, watercress, radish greens, and chards, even butter lettuce — then you're talking about a party! When Nick and I decided to start Leafy Dreams it was for a very simple reason: to feed our, and all of our surrounding communities, fresh, chemical and pesticide free produce. Produce that was hand picked by myself or Nick, packaged by us, our labels are created by us, and we package and deliver every piece of lettuce that goes into the salad you take home. The feedback we received was outstanding, but one common theme stuck out: focus on the mixes! So we became focused on creating small batch salads. We have three house blends currently and like to include seasonal specials such as an all red blend around the holidays. We also have been known to create remixes of our fan faves! So if you see "The Re-Mix" on our packaging, we're just switching it up on you a little bit. This is how the Lettuce Be Friends blend joined the family along with our first (and personal favorite) The "Almost Famous" Dreamy Blend. Another fun fact: we don't cut any of our greens. You won't find a chopped salad option from us. Think of it this way — if you buy an apple from the store and cut it in half, what happens to the other half if you don't eat it immediately? It starts to decay. However, if you leave it intact or even better, with a little bit of the stem left, the produce has access to the nutrients inside of the stem and is then able to keep its vibrancy and flavor much longer. It is so important to us to keep all of the important vitamins and electrolytes present in our blends to keep our produce as nutrient-dense as possible when it gets to your home. My favorite part of what we do is creating our salad blends. I love the ways that the various families of vegetables can complement each other and actually change the way another salad green blends in with a particular mix — creating a perfect balance that makes that particular salad its own unique blend. We grow greens that you may find in your garden as well as some that would require a trip across a pond or two to find thriving. Our blends wouldn't be as special as they are without the particular flavors we are able to bring together by including so many of them. Maybe it's the warmth of the heat lights, or the somehow soothing purple glow that we always see in our peripherals — but personally I think it's stunning. Being the person that gets to see how these beautiful, very different species of plants can come together to create something so much more than just a bag of lettuce. I find myself wondering how many people buy those bags and know what they're eating, or where it came from, or if the person packaging it knew anything about it, or if they care. Is lettuce just lettuce? Or is one salad so much more than the next? I guess you could say we love lettuce. We love what happens when all of the beautiful colors and flavors in our world come together to make something so special, so unique, and such an example of what we hope to give to the world. Thank you for reading this little story about lettuce. Peace, Love, and Leafy Dreams. With all my love and hope that you all find your own leafy dream — Amy #StayLeafy A Amy Smith Leafy Dreams Iowa ← Previous This One's For The Dreamers All Posts Next → I Think We Made It.
