Salad Daze

I had to do some investigation to determine where the expression "salad days" came from. I had invented a little story myself, but it turns out that, of course, much to, I am sure, the chagrin of my friends who teach literature, I did not know it came from Shakespeare. The expression, intends to refer, as you might know, to youth and inexperience. I guess that the idea is that salad greens are from the early part of spring, before heartier vegetables mature.

And so it goes with eating seasonally--lettuce and other tender greens are from the early parts of the season and so welcome when they arrive. Time to finish off the winter squash, onions and potatoes held over the winter. Time to be thankful that what was canned lasted as long as it did. Time to be thankful that fresh rather than canned is now in season.

But even that time comes and goes. Last week, when standing in a garden with one of my students, looking down at some lettuce, I mentioned, I thought casually, that soon lettuce season would be over--lettuce grows better when it is cooler and it is now warmer. What would she do? --asked the student. She likes her lettuce. But even lettuce has a season. It is available year-round and even some local lettuce grown hydroponically, or planted for a hopeful early fall harvest. I even grow some in my window sill through the summer and early fall. I told her all these things. But there was still a little bit of the distraught in her expression.

Even so, I have to say, I am not all that disappointed that lettuce season is winding up here. I may no longer be in my own salad days, but I have been getting into a salad daze. Even with newly arriving crops to change up my salads, lettuce based salads everyday, sometimes twice a day get tiring for me. I want something else. And I am lucky that nature provides that--veggies come and veggies go all throughout the season. we're getting into the thick of things here in the northwest--summer squashes, tomatoes, early potatoes, green beans, beets, onions.

There was less lettuce for sale yesterday at the farmers market, and I am glad I picked up an extra head last weekend (stored properly, yes, it does last that long). I came away yesterday with some late peas, some green beans--young and tender, almost as thin and bright as the french haricot verts you are sometimes lucky enough to see, some heirloom cherry tomatoes in various shapes, sizes and colors, pickling cucumbers, cherries (also soon to be gone), apricots and peaches.

Salads are looking a little different at my house, now. Because eating locally, seasonally and organically is important to me and easier to do in the summer. So as the salad days of the year, or at least the lettuce based salad days taper off, I am reminded of the greenness of my own youth when I didn't care too much about what I ate, where it came from, who was responsible for it, or what it did to the earth, I am thankful I no longer think that way and have the opportunity to help others overcome that folly earlier in their own lives than in mine.