Market Musings: Lettuce Boy Farm offers lettuce, salads, carrots, more

Earlier in Market Musings, we discussed how normally, a farm attaches a family name to their company. However, there is always the exception, such as a nickname - in this case, Lettuce Boy Farm in Belding. Where exactly does a farm get a name like that?

"When I was in high school, I was doing market stands at a local market, and the market manager got to calling me lettuce boy because all I had was lettuce at the time for mostly a summer. So when we had to name the business, the idea came across to call it Lettuce Boy," said Aaron Wenger, the inspiration behind the name. 

Wenger's farm is more than just lettuce, though. He said they're focusing a lot on salads, growing carrots and beets, along with head lettuce, baby greens, and tomatoes. They have recently expanded into chicken and eggs as well. His experience in farming and growing his own crop has given him the perspective on locally grown food that many farmers are eager to share.

"I would say the quality is usually quite a bit higher. While I think that is important and there's better nutrition in all that, it's really being able to know where it's coming from and having that trust. Here at the farmer's market you can get a lot of natural, a lot of organic, you can also just get the conventional, but it's really being able to choose, having that choice, and having the ability to talk and have that relationship."

One thing that Wenger touched on is that the market allows buyers to grow relationships with the customers. 

"I think that buying local is all about the human interaction," he said. "Having that relationship with somebody, being able to ask them questions about what their product is, how they made it, that's really what's great about it." 

What's in a name? Sometimes it's more than hat you read. You can find Wenger and Lettuce Boy Farm and their array of produce on Fridays at the Fulton Street Farmers Market.