Baby Greens are Thriving in Early Spring

The pleasant, spring-like days that cheered us in February did not retreat without first sparking a growth surge in the fields. Baby greens are among the lucky crops that got an early boost, and the salad mix at Happy Boy Farms is looking as sprightly as ever.

“We just had a month of really nice weather, so we were able to get into the fields and get everything fertilized and weeded,” said Rob Smith of Organic Farm Based in Watsonville. 

Although it’s possible to find salad greens at the farmers’ markets all winter, they tend to be sparse and sometimes even bitter. This is delightfully not the case with the young greens at the Happy Boy Farm stand. The new plethora of greens that made my heart skip a beat taste of nothing but summer. 

The salad mix is a medley of seven different lettuces and even some edible flower petals for a splash of color and a little spice. Triple washed and ready to eat means  you’ll be noshing on them before you even get them home to a salad bowl.

Red chard, red oak, red leaf, tango, la la rosa, sierra and catsoy are some of the greens you’ll find in the current mix, and they are harvested about six weeks after the seeds are planted.

“Baby greens tend to be very tender and sweet," Smith said. "Once they get to be larger heads, they are tougher and more bitter."

Greg Beccio began growing baby greens back in 1988 and decided to sell his operation in '95 after it expanded to more than 1,000 acres. Now he concentrates on farming specialty vegetables as Happy Boy Farms. 

“The business was becoming too big, and I wanted to go back to a more sustainable, smaller-scale operation in which I could put my emphasis on quality and diversity,” said Beccio, who named his small, organic farm “Happy Boy” because he was so happy to sell his larger company.

Happy Boy Farms now sells its greens at farmers’ markets from the San Francisco Bay area down to Monterey. It also sells wholesale to restaurants, which have latched on to baby greens for their low maintenance, pre-washed, bite-sized deliciousness. The deep greens, purples and delicate frisee make for a visually impressive presentation as well.

Beccio’s philosophy is to be in balance with the seasons—not to try to beat out competition by selling produce before or after it’s in season. 

Happy Boy Farms is also famous for its Heirloom tomatoes, which should start appearing sometime around mid-June. Crunchy and sweet baby carrots, chard, kale, onions, radishes and more are available right now, and bunches of herbs and stinging nettles are also available for the more adventurous.

“Diverse micro climates allow us to grow all different things,” Smith said of the seven different plots of land where Happy Boy Farms grows specialty produce in Gilroy, Chochilla, Madera and San Juan Baptista.

Salad greens, especially darker green and red ones, like the kind sold at Happy Boy Farms, are high in vitamins A and C and other nutrients. 

Happy Boy Farms sells at the Live Oak, Downtown, and West Side Santa Cruz farmers' markets.