Motave specializes in salad greens, but also provides other produce in season. They grow their produce in small raised beds of organic compost and Canadian peat -- no dirt -- which enables them to control more carefully what might otherwise end up in the growing medium: weeds, bugs, seepage from non-organic sites, etc. For salad greens, they plant different variety seeds as a mix, grouping them into individual nodes in the bed and at each node mixing the seeds with a cup of certified organic vermiculite. The diversity within the Gourmet Mix is simply amazing: over 30 different varieties of greens! (See the comparison below with commercially available organic greens mixes.) This variety on a small scale creates a synergistic effect among the plants and discourages pests.

The plants are watered with a light mist using drip irrigation set for each bed. Everything is harvested by hand within a few days before the BFC distribution; so it's about as fresh as you can get! The extra amount of care and work Motave puts into growing and harvesting their salad greens is reflected in the quality results: always tender and tasty -- and robust enough to stay that way for several weeks in the fridge!

Comparison with Commercial Mixes

Earthbound Farms Baby Lettuce Mix: red & green oak leaf, lollo rosa, red & green romaine, tango

Earthbound Farms Mixed Baby Greens: red & green romaine, red & green oak leaf, lollo rosa, tango, baby spinach, red & green chard, mizuna, arugula, frisee, radicchio

Spring Mix at Costco: red and green romaine, red and green oak leaf, lollo rossa, tango, spinach, mizuna, arugula, frisee, radicchio

Motave Meadows Gourmet Mix: tango, parris island, jerico romaine, green salad bowl, royal oak, red salad bowl, outredgeous, dark lollo rossa, firecrecker, little gem, sweet valentine, red sails, flashy trout's back, hyper red rumple, capistrano, rouge d'hiver, simpson black seeded, rubens red romaine, red deer tongue, green deer tongue, red oak leaf, cosmo savoy, aruba, blackjack, craquante d'avignon, red ridinghood, barcarole romaine, waldemans dark green, four seasons, bronze arrow, butterking

To view some of the greens that go into this mix, go to http://www.brightonfoodcoop.com/motave/Home.htm.