In season: Lettuce

Crisp heads of lettuce and bags of mixed lettuce leaves now line the tables at local farmers markets. Their appearance marks the onset of spring, and cooks weary of sturdy roots and greens celebrate the arrival of the tender leaves and shoots.

In addition to heads of one variety of lettuce or another, many farmers offer “spring mix”. Sometimes called field greens or mesclun, this is a blend of several different kinds of lettuces, often with seedlings of herbs or other greens as a part of the mixture.

At the Marietta Square Farmers Market this Saturday, Bob Jones, of Lee and Gordon Greens, will have coolers full of as many as 14 varieties of lettuce and greens, all grown hydroponically in his two greenhouses in Chickamauga in Walker County. This is his third season at the Marietta market, where he brings an assortment of greens, from ‘Lolla Bionda” and baby bok choy to tatsoi, red mizuna and watercress. He also sells to restaurants and at the Chattanooga farmers market on Sundays.

His spring mix is made up of eight to 10 different kinds of lettuce, all planted together in a soilless cube. The result is a bouquet of lettuce colors and textures.

The lettuces grow in trays, 200 plants to a tray. Jones says his team generally plants about 3,400 heads per week, varying the selection by time of year. The spring mix matures in about five weeks, Butter Bibb lettuce takes about seven weeks, and Romaine-type lettuces can take up to eight weeks. Each head will weigh a half pound to three-quarters of a pound.

Each head of lettuce or bunch of spring mix is sold with roots on. Jones recommends storing lettuce in the refrigerator crisper drawer with a wet paper towel wrapped around in the roots. Lettuce with its roots will keep fresh for a week to 10 days.

Jones' hydroponically raised greens are available all year around. In the winter, when normal markets are closed, Lee and Gordon Greens offers a community-supported agriculture program so people can have locally grown lettuce throughout the year. Their website, www.leeandgordongreens.com, offers a tutorial on the mechanics of hydroponic growing and they welcome visitors and school groups.

Field-grown lettuce is at its peak now and will stay tender and sweet until hot weather sets in. Then the plants “bolt”, sending up their tall flower stalks and turning the leaves so bitter they become inedible.

As for serving lettuce, Jones has learned that most people don't realize that different lettuces taste best with certain dressings. “Light leaf lettuces need light dressings while a heavy bodied lettuce can handle a mayo or sour cream based dressing quite well,” he said.

Although we eat the vast majority of our lettuce raw, it’s not unheard of to cook lettuce. You can braise, steam, sautè and even grill sturdier lettuce varieties. Grilled half heads of romaine lettuce were a standard item on the menu of Midtown’s Agnes and Muriel’s Restaurant.

At local farmers markets

Cooking demos:

Saturday, 9:30 a.m. Chef Shaun Doty, Yeah Burger working with lettuce. Morningside Farmers Market,

Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com

Saturday, 10 a.m. Chef Sheri Davis, Whole Foods Buckhead. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com

Farmers markets opening for the season:

Downtown Alpharetta Farmers Market: Saturday. www.alpharettafarmersmarket.com

Sandy Springs Farmers Market: Saturday: www.sandyspringsfarmersmarket.com

Chamblee Farmers Market: April 30. www.chambleefarmersmarket.com

East Lake Farmers Market, Atlanta: May 7. www.elfmarket.org

Green Market for Piedmont Park, Atlanta: May 7. www.piedmontpark.org/programs/green_market.html

For sale

Vegetables: arugula, basil, carrots, celery, chard, collards, dandelion, green onions, kale, lettuce, mache, peppers, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes

From local reports

Wilted Waldorf Salad

Hands on: 10 minutes

Total time: 10 minutes

Serves: 6

The first Waldorf salad is said to have been created at the New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel in the late 1800s. A combination of apples, walnuts and celery, it’s truly an American classic. This variation substitutes a warm combination of olive oil and rice wine vinegar for the traditional mayonnaise-based dressing. Poured warm over the crisp spring lettuces, it wilts them just a bit and should be served immediately.

8 cups spring mix (about 1/2 [half] pound)

3 apples, cored, cut into thin wedges

1 cup thinly sliced celery (about 2 stalks)

1/2 (half) cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

1/3 (third) cup olive oil

1/3 (third) cup seasoned rice vinegar

1 large shallot, chopped

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard