By Adam Calder, Produce Manager

Much like a mighty thunderstorm, spring has rolled across the plains, and in its wake the land has come alive once again. The trees have all their leaves, the flowers are blooming, the birds sing and the bunnies are bouncing.

This cool, wet spring weather is helping Lee’s Greens provide us with some really tasty red, green and romaine heads of lettuce. They add flavor and crunch to any salad and are a welcome addition to sandwiches and wraps. We’ve also been getting some tender and delicious baby spring mix, baby spinach, baby red kale, baby green kale, baby collard greens, arugula and bunches of full grown rainbow chard.

Our Iowa spring weather has also been a great boon to the asparagus out at Iowa Asparagus LLC in Ankeny. We get this delicious asparagus delivered fresh weekly and it is often picked the day we order it! This gives us a product with excellent shelf life, exceptionally good flavor and a delightfully crisp texture. The only way to get fresher asparagus would be to eat some right out in the field. Really fresh asparagus has a patina of naturally occurring yeast on it that you also often find on really fresh cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale and collard greens. You can see it, like a fine film that covers the tips of the asparagus. At this stage of freshness, the asparagus also squeaks when the stalks rub against each other. These signs of freshness fade after a week or so, and are rarely seen on asparagus that goes through larger distribution channels.

We have an exceptionally diverse variety of seedlings this spring, with plants from Onion Creek Farm, Wabi Sabi Farm and the ISU Horticultural Research Station. There are tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, fennel, kohlrabi, onions, kale, lettuce and herbs galore. They are healthy, strong, vibrant little plants and they want to go home with you to live in your garden.

Stay tuned for local blueberries and raspberries from The Berry Patch in Nevada, IA. We usually start carrying those mid-June if the weather cooperates and if Judy and Dean can hire enough nimble fingered pickers to bring in their berry bounty.

April 2019 Produce Parable
By Adam Calder

Spring is being welcomed with open arms here at Wheatsfield Cooperative.  After such an icy, cold and all around brutal winter we are so very appreciative of our local seedling farmers.  Onion Creek Farm right here in Ames and Wabi Sabi Farm in Granger have been quite busy for the past several weeks getting an army of tiny plants ready to go home with you.

These farmers have been filling seedling trays with soil, delicately placing seeds in each cup of the tray, gently watering the trays and then setting them somewhere warm and sunny.  Our dedicated local farmers did all of the waiting and watering so you don’t have to.  That is, you don’t have to until you buy some to take back home to your garden.  With the head start these verdant little plants have been given, they should have no problem settling in nicely to their new homes in your garden.

We have an excellent selection of herbs, greens and tomatoes with more to come!  The selection can change quickly, so it is best to check often to see what is available.  Our first batch of herbs and tomatoes from Onion Creek contains the following tomatoes: Early Girl, New Yorker, Black Prince, Kellog’s Breakfast, Jubille, Garden Peach, Sky Reacher, Taxi, Ponderosa St. Doro, Aunt Ruby German Green, Brandywine, Frgo Yellow Pear, Patio, Tiny, Juane Flame, Green Zebra and St. Pierre.  For herbs from Onion Creek, we have Pineapple Sage, catnip, parsley, Cuban Oregano and Garlic Chives.

From Wabi Sabi, we have red cabbage, green cabbage, leeks, kohlrabi, kale, broccoli, rainbow chard, onions, lettuce, fennel, parsley, chives and garlic chives.

While you are checking out our seedlings, don’t forget to have a look at our gorgeous hanging geranium baskets from Hassevoort Farm in Leon, IA.  Kevin and Liza Hassevoort have been tending to these overflowing baskets for several months.  Considering how cold the last few months have been, this has surely been a challenge.  You’d never know these plants ever had a day of stress in their lives just by looking.  Cheery spring colors billow out of these baskets.  Delicate perfume becomes a heady, intoxicating musk as the flowers unfurl.  They are heavy with the scents and sights of spring, and they exude an aura of life renewed.