FOR SALE AT LOCAL FARMERS MARKETS
Vegetables: arugula, Asian greens, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, chard, collards, endive, frisee, herbs, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, peanuts, radishes, rutabaga, spinach, spring onions, sweet potatoes, turnips, winter squash
From local reports
John Jerauld and his mother Carol are partners in Mama J’s Produce in Cartersville. The Mama J’s booth can be found on Saturday mornings at the Marietta Square Farmers Market, and during the spring through fall farmers market season on Sundays at The Chattanooga Market, the Tuesday morning Kennesaw Farmers Market and Friday’s Acworth Farmers Market. They also sell their produce to metro Atlanta restaurants such as Livingston at the Georgian Terrace and Haven.
When you visit their booth this winter, they might be selling spinach, turnips, radishes, carrots or one or more of the three kinds of kale they grow. But they definitely will have lettuce, arugula and watercress, all grown hydroponically.
“Lettuce is our bread and butter and makes up about 80 percent of what we grow. We’ll have roughly 13,000 lettuce plants growing at any time. But we also consistently grow two to three hundred watercress plants,” said Jerauld.
The Jeraulds started their business five years ago with a large greenhouse. They just began growing watercress last summer after repeated requests from their farmers market customers. “We’re always looking to grow something new. After a while, all that lettuce gets boring,” he said.
Watercress has been a very successful crop for them. They start the tiny seeds in a horticultural mineral fiber called Rockwool. “It’s like firm cotton candy, a long fibrous tube that holds a lot of water but also allows the plant roots to get plenty of oxygen. After about 12 days, the plants are big enough to go into hydroponic channels.”
The greenhouse is filled with rows of long food-grade plastic channels, each with holes at 4-inch intervals. Plants go in according to their growth habit – lettuce every 8 inches, watercress every 4 inches. Water moves constantly along the roots. Growing plants hydroponically requires a large initial investment in the set up, but the Jeraulds have found it’s easy to maintain. “Week after week, we plant seed, transplant into the channels, pick the plants, clean the channels and then do it all over again.”
And their customers love the clean results. “Most of our customers are people who come back every week or every other week and they are always telling us how long our produce stays fresh. They love that it needs very little washing.”
To keep the watercress fresh at home, Jerauld suggests the same method that works for most leafy greens. “You can pull off the leaves and put them in a plastic container with a damp paper towel, then refrigerate. For most greens, keeping them fresh is about keeping the right level of humidity and temperature.”
Watercress is a plant that roots easily, putting out roots all along the stem. “Where it touches a damp surface or the growing medium, it will sprout a root.” He says you can take advantage of that characteristic to grow a little watercress at home by trimming most of the leaves off your watercress stems and then putting the stems in a cup of water. “Be sure you keep them in plenty of water because that’s what they’re used to.”
And he notes that his customers appreciate what’s being touted as the overwhelming nutritional benefits of watercress. A recent CDC study ranking more than 40 fruits and vegetables for their nutritional benefits labeled watercress as the top “powerhouse” vegetable in the group, outranking other powerhouse vegetables such as spinach and kale.
Seed’s Watercress Salad
Doug Turbush, chef and owner of Seed Kitchen & Bar and Stem Wine Bar in Marietta, provided this recipe full of Spanish influence. It’s a watercress salad that is served from time to time at the wine bar.
“Watercress has a unique texture among salad greens. It offers a subtle crunch along with a light peppery flavor that picks up other flavors well. The first time I had Manchego cheese paired with membrillo, it blew my mind and was the inspiration behind the salad,” he wrote when he sent the recipe.
Membrillo is quince paste, and as Turbush notes, marries well with the Manchego, a Spanish sheep’s milk cheese, and the Marcona almonds, a sweet Spanish almond. All are available in cheese and other specialty food shops.
4 cups loosely packed watercress, leaves picked off stems and rinsed
1/2 cup roughly chopped Marcona almonds
1/4 cup membrillo, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/4 cup Sherry Vinaigrette (see recipe)
1 1/2 ounces shaved Manchego (about 6 tablespoons)
In a large bowl, combine watercress, almonds and membrillo. Toss lightly with vinaigrette and divide between serving plates. Top with Manchego and serve immediately.
Per serving: 227 calories (percent of calories from fat, 74), 7 grams protein, 9 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 20 grams fat (4 grams saturated), 10 milligrams cholesterol, 67 milligrams sodium.
Sherry Vinaigrette
Any extra vinaigrette would not only be delicious on a salad, but could also be used as a sauce on steamed vegetables or baked or pan-fried fish or chicken breasts.
1/2 cup Spanish sherry vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup minced shallot
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
In a medium bowl, whisk together sherry vinegar, honey, shallot, champagne vinegar and mustard. Slowly whisk in vegetable oil and olive oil. Taste for seasoning. Makes: 1 3/4 cups
Per 1-tablespoon serving: 86 calories (percent of calories from fat, 85), trace protein, 3 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 8 grams fat (1 gram saturated), no cholesterol, 7 milligrams sodium.
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