On My Plate: Lettuce
"Lettuce grew wild in Southwest Asia and was first harvested to obtain oil from the seeds. The ancient Egyptians domesticated it as a leafy food crop around 5,000 years ago."
Oxford’s winter landscape is notably lacking in green leaves and lawns. So it was a shock to be greeted by bright green lettuce at Oxford’s Farmers Market last Saturday.
Jennifer Bayne’s 7 Wonders Farm continues to offer a wide variety of leafy Asian greens, as noted in this column last week and will be again in the weeks ahead. The pleasant surprise last Saturday was Mark Ramsey of Casa Ramsey Farms, who returned to Oxford’s Farmers Market for the first time in at least six months.
Ramsey brought the most beautiful heads of lettuce I have seen in a long time. During the depths of the winter, the sight was spectacular. He has 1,400 heads of lettuce to bring to Oxford’s Farmers Market and MOON Co-op Grocery this winter, thanks to greenhouse gardening.
Last Saturday, the intrepid growers at Oxford’s Farmers Market got together to offer shoppers a free treat on a cold winter morning. First stop was a plate of pasta mixed with greens from 7 Wonders Farm prepared by Mike and Sasha Symon of Birch Creek Bakery. Next, the plate of pasta was carried to T.A.K.E. Mushrooms, where Tessa and Keenan Thomas added mushrooms they were cooking. Then Caraway Farm’s Jana and Skyp Harmon topped the plate with meatballs. What a team effort.
Resuming the column’s focus on lettuce, the Ramsey family started the farm five miles west of Brookville Lake a couple of years ago. They practice organic principles, including using no pesticides, synthetic chemical fertilizers or sprays. They joined Oxford’s Farmers Market for the first time last year, until they ran out of lettuce in the summer heat.
Lettuce grew wild in Southwest Asia and was first harvested to obtain oil from the seeds. The ancient Egyptians domesticated it as a leafy food crop around 5,000 years ago. The ancient Greeks and Romans, who introduced lettuce to Europe around 2,000 years ago, are credited with creating the lettuce-based salad. The word salad is derived from the Roman word for salt, an integral component of dressing in ancient times.
According to the internet, the ancient Greeks and Romans believed lettuce aided in a good night’s sleep. My mother always served a lettuce salad as a separate course at the end of dinner, but as a healthier alternative to a caloric sugary dessert.
I’ve been asked a number of times for a salad dressing recipe. Unlike the Romans, I don’t include salt in our low-sodium diet household. Place in a container 1 part grapeseed oil, then 1 part vinegar, then 1 part water, then 2 parts olive oil. Add a dash of mustard, basil, garlic and pepper, and shake thoroughly. I use Kofinas olive oil from olives grown and pressed in Crete by Evie Semertzides, who brings it to Oxford’s Farmers Market in the summer and supplies it to MOON Co-op Grocery when she is back in Crete helping the family.
Harv Roehling, Oxford’s long-time grower of organic lettuce, known locally as “the lettuce guy,” retired from lettuce farming a couple of years ago, and recently moved out of state to be close to his daughter. Supporters of local produce here in Oxford still miss Harv’s lettuce, but hopefully will find Mark Ramsey to be Harv’s worthy successor.
Harv once said that he could grow lettuce any time of the year except February or August. If he were still in Oxford, Harv would be impressed with Casa Ramsey Farms lettuce in February.
James Rubenstein is president of the Board of Directors for the Oxford Free Press and professor emeritus of geography at Miami University.
