Romaine Hearts are Romaine lettuce’s center leaves. These smaller, more yellow, and sweeter leaves have a delicious flavor and texture that is ideal for Caesar salads. Look for crisp, unwilted leaves with no dark spots or cracked ribs. Avoid heads that have any browning or discoloration. Romaine Hearts can be stored in their plastic bags in the crisper section for five to seven days. To harvest a vegetable with an equally lovely name. Smaller, more yellow, and sweeter, and ideal for Caesar salads. It is also supported by modern machinery. Of course, the product’s quality remains excellent.
We plant romaine differently depending on a few factors, including grower preference, seasonal timing, and soil and water conditions on a given ranch. Using a direct seeder or a transplanter, all planting is essentially mechanized. Both pieces of equipment are attached to the back of a tractor and driven across planting beds. We direct seed on ranches where we do not anticipate problems with germination, field conditions, or weather. The soil type is heavy and may not allow germinated seeds to break through the soil, or early or late in the season to ensure a good stand of crops for seasonal rotation.
The biggest disadvantage of romaine over our baby leaf items is that it simply grows in the fields longer, which means it is exposed to potential growing issues for a longer period of time – e.g. pests, ss, weather, etc.
Harvesting romaine hearts is a labor-intensive process performed by a harvesting machine, as shown below. Crews harvest and pack the romaine from this central hub. Harvesters cut the product from the field and place it on the first tier of the harvesting machine. The hearts are rinsed, and the product is bagged. The product is then placed on the next tier to be sealed and packed into cartons before being sd, conveyed to a flatbed trailer, and palletized. Fortunately, as organic farmers, we know how to reuse what’s left over to keep our soils healthy. After harvesting, we leave the excess greens in the field, where they deteriorate on the top of the soil bed. When the crew has finished harvesting the field, we run tractors through it and mix it all back in, which naturally adds more organic matter to our soil. This is an important part of how we continue to improve the fertility and structure of our soils, which is essential for growing high-quality produce.
