ROUSES_Summer2023_Magazine Pages-Web

Tangipahoa Parish, for example: Amite City was described as a strawberry-centered growing spot for truck farmers as far back as 1892. “Amite City is surrounded by a country which is an ideal one for perfect truck farming. It is considered to be the best in this whole section of the country. Straw berries…are produced in abundance and form the main shipments from this place to the markets North, West and South,” The Weekly Times-Democrat of New Orleans proclaimed in 1892. “The industry, truck farming, peculiar to this part of the country, is in its highest element of success in and around this town.” The strawberries grown in and around Amite City today might not be on truck farms, but the spirit of the market gardeners’ ingenuity lives on through sheer quantity — Tangipahoa Parish presently grows 79% of Louisiana’s strawberry crop. The ways in which seeds planted by truck farmers have sprouted into deeply rooted cultural phenomena will continue to grow, even as market gardens themselves are tilled over into the fertile soil of memory.

systems with refrigerated trucks spread tentacles across America, making moving produce long-distance simpler, and airlines took flight, eager to take shipments of produce in their bellies. In the span of a decade, large-scale, big business farming — complete with mechanization and lab-engineered chemical sprays, like herbicides — squashed the homespun truck farms in a David vs. Goliath battle that was over before it even began. “The thoroughbred truck farmer is, like the whooping crane, a vanishing breed...[and] truck farming as the sole source of income is becoming a scarce situation,” Kathy Tilley wrote for The Town Talk in 1971. “The shrinking truck farm industry is directly related to labor problems. The small farmer can’t afford mechanical harvesters and at the same time manual labor is not available in abundance. Competition is another problem, not rivalry between local farmers but crops imported from other areas.” Even still, the crop-based culture built by truck farmers — where local residents celebrate produce that’s special to their area — hasn’t faded with time. Take

helped move prone-to-rotting fruits and vegetables longer distances, truck farm produce was also eventually carted out of Louisiana to wholesalers nationwide — though the emphasis on local-first sales never waivered when compared to the gambit of out-of-state shipping. “At present, satsuma oranges are moving to markets in large express shipping from Oakdale. Saturday one dozen crates left for northern markets carrying fine samples of the Oakdale fruit. This fruit was shipped from the John J. Seily truck farm of Oakdale and according to report are of the best on the market,” detailed a 1929 Clarion-News article about the bounty being hauled out of the small Allen Parish community. “The truck farm...contains around 105 bearing trees...[with] an average of 500 orange or more. They are now good and ripe and will be harvested within the next two weeks. Already many crates have been sold to local markets.” By the 1950s and 1960s, though, the small-is-good, market-selling ethos of truck farms found itself beginning to look like a relic of the recent past as highway

A Bunch More About Onions ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Spring onions are known as shallots in many parts of Louisiana. Young onions that are harvested before they have fully matured, spring onions have a bulbous white base that looks a bit like a mini onion. The have a mild, slightly sweet onion flavor. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Green onions , also known as scallions , are also sometimes referred to as shallots , especially in New Orleans. These onions are harvested when they are very young and have not yet formed a bulb. The white bottom part is usually firmer than the green top and has a more intense flavor, while the green part is milder tasting with a more delicate texture. The green part can also be used raw as a garnish — and is often used as a topping for a whole host of Cajun and Creole dishes, like crawfish etouffée and jambalaya. ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT Shallots are another form of onion altogether. They have a more complex and nuanced flavor than green onions do, with a subtle sweetness and a hint of garlic-like flavor. Their flesh is whitish-purple. Shallots do form a bulb, which is made up of multiple cloves similar to garlic. Shallots are grown in many parts of the world, but they are particularly associated with France, where they are an important ingredient in classic French cuisine — and are always found in the culinary arsenal of gourmet chefs in any country. Dried shallots are typically sold as a spice, while fresh shallots are sold as whole bulbs, with the brown papery skin intact. You can find them in the produce department alongside onions and garlic. 21 WWW.ROUSES.COM ARROW-CIRCLE-RIGHT A leek and a green onion are related, but they are not the same thing. Leeks have a mellower, less tangy flavor compared to most varieties of onions, with a subtle hint of garlic.