Hello!
Those of you who received Romaine Lettuce last week may have noticed that the heads are smaller than our summer varieties that we normally offer. I have been trialing some different varieties over the last 3 months to see if I can get the same heavy yields on plants with smaller leaves.
Growing lettuce in the winter is tricky enough, but the larger Romaine leaves require some supplemental heat to ward off the cold, and that's a problem. My propane bill just increased by 28%, and that's just the nursery and not the lettuce beds. I would have to increase my retail price to $5.25, just to stay even ( excluding labor and materials), and I'm not sure that my market area would support a 30% price increase! It still takes 3-4 months to grow a head of lettuce in January regardless of size, but I could grow more small heads in the same space and keep my prices down with more varieties. Time is not on my side; we are currently planting for late January and February, and decision time is this week! What do YOU think? Note: we still have some of that great Summer Romaine crop!
This week I am at the Family Fare parking lot in Eaton Rapids on Wednesday at 12:00 noon, and the Allen Street Indoor Market after that , 3:00-6:00. Thursday afternoon is farm pick up, and Saturday I am at the parking lot behind Flour Child Bakery. Please see the attached menu as we slowly move to some storage crops, and let me know if I can help!
