Leafy Greens

Tempting Vegetables Lure in Customers

Atina Diffley remembers the Alar scare of 1989 – but for the opposite reason many apple growers remember it. For apple growers, it was a financial disaster. In panic, schools dropped apples from the lunch... more »

Farm’s Switch To Vegetables Changes 250-year Tradition

The national bicentennial farm has been in the family since 1756. Until the 1980s, it primarily produced tobacco, soybeans and corn. At that time, the Holden brothers diversified from tobacco and planted an initial three-acre... more »

Family Grows ‘Best Lettuce in Central Texas’

Susan Staub grows the best lettuce in central Texas, and she's not shy about saying so. "Our lettuce is superior to any other bib lettuce out there," she said. "People just flip over the color."... more »

California Growers Look Immigration Reform Effects

California's Imperial Valley grew, in about 100 years, from a barren desert to the winter salad bowl of America after farmers found the Colorado River could be diverted to supply irrigation water. Now, nearly 125,000... more »

FDA Releases Final Rule on Nutrition Labeling

If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, perhaps we should eat a bigger apple. That seems to be a conclusion American consumers have reached. One of the most noticeable changes in the Food... more »

Flavor, Color And Health Are Driving The Vegetable Seed Industry

Each vegetable seed company has its own priorities when it comes to the characteristics of its products. However, some of those priorities overlap and become general trends within the industry. According to a handful of... more »

Growers, Customers Cautious As Spinach Returns To Stores

Spinach growers, processors and industry groups are working to restore public trust and get their product back on store shelves. The source of an outbreak was narrowed to three California counties Sept. 21, but growers... more »

Funding Cutbacks Force North Carolina Extension To Be Creative

This is the third story in a series about the future of Extension. Mary Helen Ferguson just got a job as a county agent with North Carolina Cooperative Extension. It's the first step in her... more »

Hydroponic lettuce wins customers’ hearts

People's desire for tender, baby lettuce shows up in the price tag. A small head of Boston butter or Bibb commands $3 or so while bigger heads of iceberg are selling for $1 in the... more »

Fresh Vegetable Harvested Acreage Up 2 Percent

The prospective area for harvest of 11 selected fresh-market vegetables during the winter quarter is forecast at 183,900 acres, according to USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. This is 2 percent above 2005 and 3 percent... more »