Know Your Greens 1) Oscarde Red Oak Leaf, Tender and Sweet 2) Green Oak Leaf, Mild and Sweet 3) Freckles Romaine, Crisp and Sweet 4) Ferrari Red Oak Leaf, Delicate and Sweet 5) Mizuna, Mildly tangy 6) Arugala, Nutty and Peppery 7) Giant Red Mustard, Mildly pungent 8,9,10) Bright Lights Swiss Chard, Mild, Colorful and "Spinach-like" 11) Bull's Blood Beet Greens, Tender and Sweet 12) Red Komatsuna, Slightly Spicy 13) Yukina Savoy, Mild and Sweet 14) Red Pac Choi, Crunchy and "Spinach-like" 15) Green Pac Choi, Crunchy and "Spinach-like" 16) Bionda Di Lyon Chard, Tender and Mild
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green up your dietLocal growers bring cold-hardy produce to market Just shy of three years into farming and coming from careers in the corporate world, the Bartholomaes bought a picturesque 23-acre farm with a pond, apple trees, artesian springs, a couple of acres of cutting flowers and plenty of room to grow. They quickly found a niche in growing greens using high tunnels or hoop houses that create a greenhouse-like atmosphere where the soil never freezes and plants grow slowly throughout the winter. “It’s an old technique that relies on the warmth of the sun,” explained Mindy. The couple further adapts by planting cool weather loving greens including spinach, chard, arugula and sturdy Asian salad greens like Pac Choi, a spoon shaped green, similar to bok choy, and mizuna, a saw-toothed, mild flavored salad green. A typical growing season in the high tunnels at Breezy Hill begins with an early fall planting of specialty turnips, radishes, carrots and hearty fall greens that grow throughout the winter, which the Bartholomaes harvest and sell at local winter farmers markets. Behind that, two succession plantings of spinach and salad greens sprout and grow as the soil in the tunnel warms. By March, the couple begins to harvest fresh, tender salad greens. “Because they are cold tolerant, these greens withstand gentle freeze and thaw cycles,” Mindy said. “Still rooted in the soil, they are a living, viable plant and are able to recover. The process concentrates the sugars so they have a sweeter taste.” For those farmers who push the envelope on Ohio’s growing seasons, high tunnels offer some assurance that fresh, locally grown greens and other produce will be available to “green up” their customers’ winter diets a little earlier in the season. But as Mindy points out, there are a lot more variables that impact winter farming. “A lot of what we can do depends on the number of sunny days in the winter. In Ohio, that’s a bit unpredictable.”
There are plenty of farms throughout Ohio getting ready to put fresh greens into your salad bowls this growing season. You can find growers in your area by using the Buying Local Directory at OurOhio.org. Here are just a few of the Farm Bureau members you might come across. You must be logged in to leave a comment. Click here to login. |
Oil & Gas- Drilling from a landowner's perspective :
May 17, 2012
Location: Spring Garden Waldorf School, 1791 S. Jacoby Rd.; Copley
American Heritage Days :
May 17, 2012 - May 20, 2012
Location: Christian Waldschmidt Homestead, 7567 Glendale-Milford Road, Camp Dennison
Taste of the Arts :
May 18, 2012
Location: Downtown Piqua
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