Mary Ellen’s Go-to Salad
Mary Ellen Taylor has lived many lives — across the United States, the Philippines, and Germany — but she now calls the rolling hills of Purcellville home. She is a hydroponic farmer, entrepreneur, and community leader.
She lives with her four orange cats — Baby Boy, Puff Puff, Taco, and Sco (Sco because he has six toes, “my polydactyl boy,” she says proudly). She calls her lettuce her “babies,” too. “I don’t have children,” she laughs, “so the lettuce is my family.”
Her warmth spills easily into her work. At the Falls Church Farmers Market, she’s a beloved figure — the kind of neighbor who trades lettuce for mushrooms or a sandwich, whose customers greet her with hugs and stories.
Hydrate or Die: Lessons from the Lettuce Lady
How It All Began
Mary Ellen first learned about hydroponics on a Disney World ride. What began as curiosity became a career — and twenty-seven years later, she owns the oldest and most successful hydroponic farm in Virginia.
“When I started this 27 years ago, there wasn’t the internet like now,” she says. “I was reading textbooks — hard to find ones. Hydroponics is ancient — the Egyptians, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon — but America’s been slow to harness it.”
Her method, called the nutrient film technique, lets a trickle of water flow past the roots. “The plant stretches to grow,” she explains. “We germinate 12,000 seeds a week — so we harvest 12,000 heads, sell 12,000 heads. It’s a farm factory of sorts.”
“We recycle all our water — none is wasted,” she says. “We can grow 12 months a year, hot or cold. Chefs love us because our lettuce is consistent. It’s always that Loudoun lettuce — week after week.”
Her pride glows quietly when she talks about quality:
“Our lettuce isn’t prewashed — there’s nothing to wash off. No soil, no sand, no animal waste. It’s clean, it lasts longer, and customers taste the difference.”
At the Market
At the Farmers Market, her stall hums with conversation and affection. She is part grower, part local celebrity.
“I feel like a rock star at the market,” she laughs. “People say, ‘I can’t believe how long it lasts!’ I tell them why — we don’t prewash, we bag within 24 hours, and our bags breathe. That’s our secret.”
Her clientele, she notes, varies — from Falls Church retirees to young families — but they share an appreciation for flavor, freshness, and ethics.
“They have disposable income and they care what they eat. It’s not cheap, but it’s good value — you’re not eating pesticides, you’re eating something honest.”
The Lettuce Lady’s Rules
As our conversation winds down, she grins and gives me her two golden rules:
“Number one: Hydrate or die. For lettuce or for people — we all need water.”
“Number two: Always choose a bowl bigger than you think you’ll need.”
She chuckles — but beneath the humor is wisdom forged from years of effort.
“Plans are easy,” she says. “It’s execution that’s hard. You can dream all you want, but can you do it?”
That tenacity, she believes, is why her farm endures — and why others fail. “You need guts,” she says. “You have to teach your team to believe in excellence — that they should only pack what they’d want to eat.”
🌱 Recipe Box: Mary Ellen’s Go-to Salad
A tribute to abundance — the farmer’s fridge turned feast.
Ingredients (2 servings):
3 cups Loudoun Lettuce (or any crisp mix)
½ cup mixed pickled vegetables
½ cup cheese crumbles (blue or feta)
½ cup grilled steak strips (optional)
¼ cup French fries (yes — French fries!)
Simple Vinaigrette:
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp vinegar of choice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Place lettuce in a large bowl (bigger than you think you’ll need — rule #2).
Add all the colorful “junk” from your fridge.
Toss with vinaigrette just before serving.
Mary Ellen’s table is a place of humor and discipline, of craft and care. Her work embodies what future-forward farming can be — sustainable, dignified, deeply human.