Week 5: July 10

Snow Peas, Sugar Snap Peas, Shelling Peas, Broccoli, Leaf Lettuce, Green Onions, Yukina Savoy & Mizuna  

                What a storm!  The entire farm crew sat out on the deck and watched the lightning.  The rain was blowing in on our legs, and the two dogs huddled under our chairs, waiting for the noise to cease.  Good thing we had that little bit of rain to keep the fires down, and lucky for us we do not have hay to worry about. 

            Peas are the vegetable of the week.  We grow sugar snap peas, snow peas and regular shelling peas, and I have at least two varieties of each type.   Each spring I seed varieties with different maturity rates at different times to extend the harvest period.  But, no matter what your plan is, all the peas come at once.  This morning we picked five out of six beds.  Yikes. 

Snow Peas: flat, tender, edible pea pods common in Asia.  They are excellent raw, stir fried, or lightly steamed. Just remember to remove the stem end and string first. 

Sugar Snap Peas: juicy, edible pods that are filled with delicious baby peas.  Snap off the stem end and eat the whole thing pod and all.  They are excellent raw, lightly steamed or stir fried.  

Shelling Peas:  the sweet little peas we all know and love. Not to be confused with sugar snaps,  shelling peas have a tough fibrous pod that needs to be removed to expose the peas inside.  As kids we used to have movie night and the whole family would sit in the living room on a hot afternoon shelling peas to freeze for winter.

Mizuna: white stems and sharply pointed leaves, the purple variety has purple stems and edges.  Mizuna is tasty raw, but can be sautéed.   

Yukina Savoy: with its white stems and deeply wrinkled dark green, spoon shaped leaves it is a common ingredient in commercial salad mix.  It makes an excellent addition to stir fries, but I like it best raw, and would mix it with some lettuce and other greens for salad. 

These are the last spring greens, the rest have gone to flower so I am leaving them to attract bees to the garden. 

We have had several people join the CSA in the last two weeks, so I figured I needed to reiterate a few key things.

Reviving salad greens:  the lovely leafy greens of early spring are delicious and healthful, but they tend to wilt very quickly after harvest.  To revive limp greens, place them in a sink of cold water for 10 – 30 minutes.  Make sure the greens are submerged, by gently pressing them under the water.  Shake or spin dry before refrigerating.  This technique works for broccoli, heads of lettuce, chard, kale, even peas and carrots. 

Wash your veggies:    Please wash all of your vegetables thoroughly before consumption.       Most of the vegetables are not washed before they are packed into your bags.  This saves us time and energy, and limits damage due to handling.  Most crops leafy crops are only rinsed off to cool them down or remove soil from their roots.  The rest is up to you.

Meat Packs

Ranfurly Farm pasture raises pork, beef, lamb, and chicken in addition to growing great vegetables.  Our meat is free of antibiotics and artificial growth hormones, and processed at a government inspected facility.  Call or email me if you would like to place an order.

Chickens will be ready by July 30^th, whole chickens $3.75/lb;  1/2 chickens $4/lb.

July Meat Pack  -  $100

Cut	Quantity	Average Weight
Pork Chops	2 packs	4 chops, 2 lbs
Ground Beef	3 packs	3 lbs
Bacon or Breakfast sausage	1 pack	1 lb
Pork Shoulder Roast   or	1	3.5 lbs
Beef Bottom Round Roast		2.5 lbs
Spicy Italian or Bratwurst Sausage  (Pork)	1 pack	1 lb
Sirloin Steak	1 pack	2 steaks, 1.4 lbs
Pork Spare ribs	1 or 2 packs	2.46 lbs

Please return your bags we are running low.  J