Market Farming

[sunnfarm AT netscape.net]

Allen, When you dip lettuce into cold water and if there is some rot on any 
leaf that rot can get into the water and infect every  head, warm vegetables 
absorb cold water but donot absorb warm water, when cleaning vegetables 
always use warm water, we have found this especially true with washing bell 
peppers and melons.
Lettuce is best cooled with a vaccume cooler, my co-op bought two of them 
last year they look like giant 1950's vintage canister home vaccumes except 
these are large enough to hold a semi trailer and cost about a quarter 
million dollars each, small growers can easily build a forced air cooler that 
works similar to a vaccume cooler if you have a walkin refrigerated cooler, 
you build a plywood box roughly 4x4x4 ft square put a door in front and 
chicken wire shelves inside, place lettuce on shelves, seal the door as tight 
as possible, you install a 10" kitchen fan in the top of the box and cut a 
10" hole in the bottom of the box, locate the box in the cooler which is set 
as cold as possible, turn on the fan and it will suck cold air into the box 
forcing air over the lettuce that draws field heat out of the lettuce...Bob.
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ.

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