The newest buzzword for those who are interested in living a healthy lifestyle is “locavore.” If you haven’t heard this term, a locavore is one who eats only locally grown food. One definition of locally grown is anything grown within 150 miles, whereas foods purchased at your local grocery store may travel an average of 1,500 miles to get here.

I am sure my mother and many others who lived in the 1940s and earlier were locavores. At that time, almost everyone had a garden and knew how to preserve their own food. Most rural people had chickens, pigs, perhaps a few cows, and were pretty much self sufficient as far as supplying their own food. I recall my mother taking the extra eggs to the local grocery store, and trading them for the few groceries she needed — which was probably coffee, sugar, spices and flour. She baked bread for her large family on almost a daily basis, had a large garden, which provided most of what we ate in the summer and by canning and preserving that produce, also fed us through the winter. We had chickens, providing both eggs and meat, butchered our own pigs, and had cows to supply our own milk.

Would you like to live healthier and longer? Are you worried about all the chemicals going into our foods and our environment? Would you like to help the local economy, and support our small local growers and family farms?

If you are interested in becoming a locavore, your local farmers market can help you. Not only will you find freshly picked produce, but you will find local meats, eggs, honey, home-baked items and more. Most of the people providing these items use no or very few chemical products. By visiting with these producers, you can establish a relationship with the grower of your food, and learn more about where your food comes from, and how it was grown.

Notes from the garden

May has been an interesting month. Although the first part of the month was unusually cool, and we did get some freezing temperatures around May 8, this week now is bringing us some very warm temperatures. The gardens are growing well, but with all the wind we are getting, you gardeners may need to be doing some watering, particularly on newly transplanted things. Although the field corn and a few things in the gardens did get hurt somewhat by the frost, that damage seems to not be too severe. Many of the fields of soybeans are now coming up, and most farmers have all their planting done.

Those of you who garden can now plant all your late season vegetables, including vine crops, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. We are now at a point where it would be very unusual (but not impossible) to get freezing temperatures.

I am excited about the interest in gardening. Some of our local schools are starting garden plots, and I believe this is an excellent way to get the younger generation interested in the benefits of growing your own vegetables. The city of Albert Lea has again this year increased community gardens to allow more people who don’t have their own garden space to be able to garden. Even the Salvation Army is starting gardens to provide fresh vegetables for its food programs. What a great way to provide healthy, tasty produce, and hopefully teach more people how to grow their own food!

One of the earliest vegetables ready in our gardens in the spring is lettuce, along with spinach and other greens. Leafy greens can be planted as soon as you can work the ground, which this year was early April. Lettuce and spinach are cool weather crops, and will tolerate freezing temperatures. They do not however do well when the weather gets real hot. These crops then tend to bolt, which means they go to seed, and the leaves themselves get bitter tasting.

Lettuce is one of the most widely grown garden vegetables, adaptable to most climate zones. The iceberg-type commonly sold in grocery stores has a firm head, is crisp, darker green on the outside but very light green inside, and not very nutritious. It is also hard to grow in home gardens.

Butterhead lettuces form loose heads. Leaf lettuces are the easiest to grow, and come in many varieties in shades of green and red. Romaine is a more upright growing lettuce, will form loose heads, and although usually green, also can be red.

Less traditional are arugula, endive, chicory and watercress, which have their own distinct flavors, which may not appeal to everyone, but can add a little “spice” to your salads.

Salad greens are low in calories and high in fiber. Green or red leafy varieties tend to be higher in nutrients than iceberg type, and have significant levels of beta carotene, folate, vitamin C, calcium, iron and potassium.

Although the traditional way to use garden greens is in salads, you can also braise lettuce in butter, put it in creamed soups, or stir fry with mushrooms and onions, or cook and eat like spinach.

Old-fashioned lettuce salad

2 bunches leaf lettuce, washed and chilled

1/2 c. light cream

l/2 Tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 c. vinegar

Tear up lettuce in bite size pieces. Just before serving, mix remaining ingredients and pour over lettuce and toss.

Wilted lettuce salad

1 large bag leaf lettuce

4 slices bacon

2 Tbsp. bacon drippings

2 Tbsp. Canola or other vegetable oil

1/4 C. vinegar

1 Tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

Wash lettuce and tear into bite-size pieces. Fry bacon until crisp, reserving 2 Tbsp. drippings. Crumble up bacon, and add to drippings, along with remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring well. Pour over lettuce and toss lightly. Serve immediately.

Dandelion salad with horseradish

6 C. young dandelion leaves

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

4 slices bacon, cooked crisp, drained and crumbled

1 tablespoon minced onion

1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

1/2 C. olive oil

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

Wash dandelions very thoroughly, removing any tough stems. Dry well. Combine dandelions, eggs and bacon in salad bowl. Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over salad. Toss and serve immediately.

(Note: if you can’t beat your dandelions, eat ‘em!)

See you all at the Albert Lea Farmers Market this Wednesday. from 4 to 6 p.m. and Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to noon. Each week is bringing more exciting and interesting things to the market Don’t forget to register for the free basket of goodies donated by your market vendors each Wednesday. The registration table is next to the “Red Barn.” And this Wednesday the local Rotary Club will be serving a meal, with entertainment provided by David Courey.

Saturday morning, come join your friends, have a free cup of coffee and baked treat, (compliments of your market vendors) and shop for all those wonderful locally produced products. You too might want to become a locavore.

Verlys Huntley is a master gardener and president of the Albert Lea Farmers Market board of directors.