June 6: Iceberg Lettuce

Iceberg: Luther Burbank's revenge on the lettuce-eating world! Actually, when I'm after crunch and not flavor, I like it.

The field today was one of Valley Pride's just south of Salinas. We had more folks than there were knives and crates, so teamwork and division of labor were the order of the day. A mild day, with overcast sky turning sunny as we cut, cleaned, and carried the lettuce heads. With so many working, it wasn't much over an hour and a half after we had all gone into the field before the 16 big bins on the truck were full and we were free to glean lettuce to take home for ourselves.

Today kicked off gleaning for Monterey County high schools. Everett Alvarez HS in Salinas hosted a barbecue after the glean and many students came to complete community service hours, activity credits, or just to do something worthwhile. Other students came from high schools from Watsonville to Monterey. Further afield, Archbishop Mitty HS in San Jose sent 24 students and 4 staff down as part of their 10-day immersion trip in their Ethics, Culture, and Justice class. Groups came from United Methodist Church and other area churches, and lots of families and individuals came to help out.
Listen to stories from the June 6th glean