Community Supported Agriculture

Hello CSA Shareholders.

I hope everyone is enjoying being outside in this beautiful, warm weather!

Farmers markets were jam packed over the weeked; people were buzzing like bees to a bloom. I came home exhausted on Sunday afternoon from two days of markets in the sweltering heat and sat down to a nice cold Corona with a meyer lemon squeezed in and thought about how people, just like most animals, insects, plants, or other living things seem to move faster when temperatures warm up. Just as I was having that thought I saw several dragonflies diving in figure eights in the afternoon sunlight. We all respond to day length and temperature changes it appears. Spring is my favorite time of year!
Speaking of temperatures and day length - we have started to harvest small amounts of strawberries from our 1/2 acre. You should see some in your boxes next week. This year we are growing Seascape and Chandler.

It is also time to start planting tomatoes. We have 28 varieties of heirloom tomatoes to transplant this coming week on our Mid-Carmel Valley Tomato Ranch. Our tomatoes are planted only 5 miles from the coast on Carmel Valley Rd and won’t we ready until about the 1st of August. We come in late with our tomatoes compared to Hollister, or other farms that have land in the valley. Our tomatoes have great flavor and are worth the wait because they hang on the vine and ripen over a longer period of time making them extra flavorful and sweet. Our moderate temps allow us to have tomatoes until at least Thanksgiving and sometimes we have eaten tomatoes after the New Year!

In your box this week: Baby Carrots, Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, Green Romaine, Dill, Red Butter& Red Romaine cross. Artichokes, English Peas, Red chard, Snap Peas, Cilantro, Bloomsdale Spinach, Spring Mix, & Dino Kale

Remember fresh herbs are fabulous added to anything! Salads can be spruced up easily with some fresh herbs tossed in.
You have two types of peas in your box, snap peas which you eat the whole crunchy pod, and English Peas - a shelling type of peas that you must remove the outer skin to find the large edible pods.  Both types are great eaten raw. If you plan to cook them be sure not to over cook them as they are best when still crisp.

Enjoy English peas simply cooked and topped with butter for an excellent side dish. Chill cooked peas and toss in salads for texture and an extra burst of flavor. Combine cooked chilled peas with cubed cheese; blend in just enough mayonnaise to moisten; season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill at least two hours. Serve as a refreshing salad. Great dish for picnics.

To store peas, wrap unwashed pea pods in a perforated plastic bag and refrigerate. For optimum quality and taste, use English peas within two to three days. Shelled English peas may be frozen, but they will lose their crisp texture. Note: Don’t shell peas until just before cooking or eating.

I found some great recipes for peas on a website called Chocolate & Zucchini. I really liked the recipes and info I found here. Here is the web address:

http://chocolateandzucchini.com

The following 2 recipes were taken from the Chocolate and Zucchini website. I thought they sounded wonderful to make in this heat wave.

Peacamole

- 300 grams (10 1/2 ounces) shelled green peas, frozen or fresh but not canned
- 1 drop cilantro essential oil for cooking, or a small bunch fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons whole almond butter (like peanut butter but made with unblanched almonds; look for it at natural foods stores)
- 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
- 1 dash Tabasco sauce
- Salt, black pepper

Makes enough for an appetizer for 4.

Steam the peas for 14 minutes, or until tender, and let cool to just above room temperature.

If you’re using fresh cilantro, pluck the leaves and set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor or blender, combine the peas, almond butter, cilantro (essential oil or fresh leaves), garlic if using, Tabasco sauce, a little salt and some pepper. Process until smooth. If the mixture is a bit too thick for the blade of the food processor to mix properly, add just a little bit of water, a teaspoon at a time, until soft enough to mix.

Taste and adjust the seasoning. Spread on pieces of multigrain crispbread and serve. The peacamole can be made a day ahead and kept in the fridge in an airtight container; it will keep for 2 to 3 days.

Recipe originally developed for ELLE à table, issue #63, March/April 2009.

Chilled Pea Pod Soup ( you can use the snap peas and English peas for this one)

- olive oil
- 1 onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- the pods from 1.2 kg (2.5 pounds) fresh green peas, stems removed, rinsed and drained (no need to thaw them if frozen)
- sea salt
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine
- 1 liter (4 cups) quality stock, brought to a simmer
- freshly grated nutmeg (use a whole nutmeg and a small grater)
- freshly ground black pepper
- hot sauce, such as Tabasco sauce
- a few stems of fresh herbs, such as chervil, cilantro, dill, or chives

Serves 4 as a first course.

Heat a little olive oil in a cast-iron or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened, stirring regularly. Add the pea pods, season with salt, and cook for a few minutes, until the liquids have evaporated if the pods were frozen.

Deglaze with the white wine, and cook for a minute. Add the hot stock, bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 25-30 minutes, until the pods are quite soft. Remove from the heat and let cool, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Put on an apron (I mean it; this can get messy). Using a blender or an immersion blender, whiz the soup in short pulses until all the pods are broken down into chunks. They will refuse to turn to a purée; the goal is simply to break their fibers so they’ll be easier to strain.

Set a food mill (or a fine-mesh strainer) over a medium bowl and ladle a few spoonfuls of the soup into the mill (or strainer). Turn the handle of the mill (or press on the solids in the strainer with the back of a tablespoon) to strain out as much of the liquids as you can. Discard the solids (see note) and repeat with the rest of the soup, still working in batches.

Sprinkle the soup with a little nutmeg, stir, taste, and adjust the seasoning. Refrigerate until well chilled. (To speed up the cooling, set the bowl in a larger bowl filled with cold water and a few ice cubes.)

Pour the soup in glasses, add freshly ground pepper, a dash of hot sauce, and a stem or two of fresh herbs, and serve with thick-cut fingers of levain bread.

Note: Rather than discard the solids right away, I prefer to reserve them in another bowl and strain them again after the first pass: I find I can usually strain out a little more liquid after giving them this short resting time.

Nutritional Value of Peas
As a fresh vegetable source of protein, English peas are second only to lima beans. A three-fourths cup serving contains about 100 calories and more protein than a tablespoon of peanut butter or a whole egg, and less than one-half gram of fat.

We finally purchased a refrigerated market / delivery truck.  This is a big step and very exciting! We are growing more than we can carry to market in the flatbed we have so we are stepping up. I drove it home in 50 mph winds last week for the first time and I would say it will take some getting used to! Especially in high wind situations. Its not too long, but pretty tall. Now we can keep things extra cool on hot days and take more to market to sell.

I hope everyone enjoys this beautiful week!

Jamie Collins