Wetumpka, Alabama may not be the first place you think of when it comes to fresh whole grains and pesticide free lettuce, but it should be. Oakview Farms is a small farming operation off Redland Road that uses a stone burr gristmill to grind grits, cornmeal, and flour, and grows several varieties of lettuce using hydroponics.
Oakview Farms has been has been in operation since 1998. Owner Joe Lambrecht says that he and his wife Patty began the farm after they retired from ‘real world’ jobs, and take pride in introducing people to healthy whole grain alternatives. He explains that nothing is put in or taken out of their products (except the corn husks of course) – the whole grain product is all you get. “We don’t add anything, or preserve anything, in fact, all of our products are guaranteed to go bad if they are not properly taken care of,” says Lambrecht.
Fresh from the Farm
Some of the products for sale in Oakview’s Country Store include their top seller, stone ground grits, along with cornmeal, whole wheat flour, organic wild rice, and even whole grain pancake and waffle mix. Oakview’s stone ground grits are even featured on the menu at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trails, and the Marriott Food Systems in Alabama.
Oakview Farms also prides itself on its beautiful varieties of lettuce grown with a hydroponics system. According to Wikipedia, hydroponics is a method of growing that uses mineral nutrients instead of using soil. Oakview Farms grows their lettuce using a hydroponics float method. The lettuce seedlings are transferred to a larger pallet (made of foam board), where the water underneath provides the nutrients for the plants to grow.
“On any given day, we have about 8,000 heads of lettuce in various stages,” says Lambrecht. From the seed to maturity it takes between 25-40 days before the lettuce is ready to be harvested. Oakview Farms grows red leaf lettuce, green curly leaf lettuce, and butterhead lettuce (also known as bibb lettuce).
The Advantages of Hydroponics
Hydroponics has several advantages. Not only is the growing method less labor intensive than planting in soil, it also allows the lettuce to grow without using pesticides, or herbicides. The end product is a beautiful lush head of lettuce, which almost looks like it couldn’t be real. Of course the best advantage of buying fresh lettuce is you know exactly where your lettuce was grown, and it wasn’t trucked 8,000 miles to make your favorite salad.
All of Oakview’s products are available for resale at its Country Store located on the farm, and at the EastChase and Hampstead Farmers Markets.
