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Greetings!
Happy Fourth of July!
Hot hot hot! ...just as it always is as soon as this date rolls around. Despite the occasional shower, we're not really getting enough rain for vegetable growing. Thank goodness our irrigation system works great and is keeping things moist and growing.
The season is now officially in full swing. We started our two farmer's markets this past week. On Thursdays from 3 to 6:30 p.m. we're in Gloucester at Stage Fort Park, their new location this year; and Sundays from noon to 3 p.m. we're in front of the Riverwalk Gallery in Amesbury. Even though the markets mean more work, we really like doing them each week. They help us get out into the community and on the map, and it's an opportunity to get off the farm for a few hours to socialize with other farmers, market friends and customers. If you have any friends living in these two areas, please send them our way!
A note to our Monday customers who will be picking up this Wednesday...this week only, we will set up the pickup station under the white tent near the farm parking area. We're going to be filming food preparation videos in the barn on Wednesdays for the next few weeks. The pickup station will be back in the barn next Monday! Thank you for your understanding. |
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What's Happening on the Farm
U-Pick starts this week. Sugar Snap peas are finally ready! We planted the variety Cascadia, a fat, tender edible pod pea which we love. Peas will be available for the next few weeks, soon to be followed by green beans and cherry tomatoes. You'll find small paper bags in the barn. You may fill the bag to the line we've marked. Also, try some pea tendrils (5 or 6) in your salads for a gourmet treat. Just pinch off the first few inches of growth where it's tender. You can even eat the flower!
The basil is still small, but please help yourself to a few sprigs. It's planted in the first row. You'll find it hiding underneath the white row cover, which keeps bugs from eating it. Simply unclip the clothespins on one side and turn back the cover to harvest. Be sure to cover up again when you're done. Harvest basil by pinching off flowering tips of the plant at any point where you see two tiny new tips emerging. If you leave the tender new growth, two new tips will emerge, making the plant more bushy. We also have planted a few other herbs, cilantro, parsley, thyme, tarragon and thai basil that will be ready in a couple of weeks.
Those of you not doing U-Pick will find these items in the barn along with the rest of your share.
For your convenience, you may pick when you come for your share, or any day or time during daylight hours.
More plantings of lettuce, tat-soi, beets and bok choy went in the garden this week. The spinach is gone for now, as are those delicious carrots. We plan to put in a later planting of carrots, but we'll wait until it's cooler to plant spinach again. Lots of green tomatoes on the vines in the greenhouse promises a plentiful supply soon, we hope!
Please try to remember to bring your own bags! We do supply recycled grocery bags, in case you forgot.
Don't forget to bring your compost in exchange for a new bucket this week. You may not fill it up every week, but it might help to get in the habit of remembering to bring it. About half our customers took buckets last week. It's not too late to take one if you decide you want to try it. There are more 2.5 gallon buckets available, and a few of the larger 5 gallon buckets. Let us know which size your prefer!
Just a reminder to check your name off on the clipboard in the barn, so we know that you have picked up your share, thank you! |
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Thoughts on Pea Picking...
Peas are a cool weather vegetable, whose season is all the more sweet for its brevity -- only a few weeks. It will be even shorter if the weather stays hot. Interestingly, the more you pick peas, the more the plant produces. Their only purpose is to procreate, to set seed. Constant picking frustrates this process and they continue to produce. Once the peas come in, they need to be picked just about every day.
Picking peas is an exercise in patience and perserverance, and good exercise! The pods blend right into the foliage. You can be looking right at one and not see it hiding there. Be gentle, the vines bend and break easily, but you need to sneak your hands right in to feel out the pods where they hide. Here's my method...Look high: pick what you can see from a standing position. Look low: crouch down and peer up through the vines. Look right and left: pick along down the row in this manner, and then turn around and look back. Sure enough, more peas. Look through: sometimes the peas you missed on one side can only be seen from the other! Have fun! |
Recipe of the Week/Putting Food By Tips
Recipe of the Week:
Caesar Salad
(Make good use of that lovely head of romaine in this week's share...)
We love this salad with homemade croutons which are well worth the extra effort. Just cut any nice, crusty leftover bread into chunks, sprinkle with a little good olive oil and toast them in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye out so they don't burn!
1 large head of romaine, washed well, torn into large pieces
Grate on a generous amount of a good parmesan or romano cheese.
Dressing:
In a blender, or with a whisk, whip together
1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 tbsp. olive oil 1/2 fresh, squeezed lemon juice
3 tbsp. corn or canola oil
1 egg (we use raw egg, but you can also cook the egg slightly in boiling water for about 1 minute before putting into the blender.
dash of Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp (or so) of Grey Poupon, or your favorite spicy mustard
Squeeze in about 1 1/2 inches of anchovy paste (you can also use the canned anchovy strips, cut up smaller. We prefer the paste, as some family members don't like anchovies. However, the paste gives the dressing it's signature flavor.)
Just before serving, pour on the dressing and toss well, and watch it disappear! |
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See you at the farm!
Maggie, Bill, Ross, Richie, Ryan, Mike and Desi (Suchi and Charger too!)
Mehaffey Farm
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179 Newbury Road
Rowley, 01969
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