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WELCOME TO RUTIZ FARMS
This Friday and Saturday at our farm stand, the Growing Grounds Farm from Santa Maria, will be setting up a huge display of their 4 inch and 4 pack vegetable starts. They will have a great selection of tomato varieties along with all the summer veggies, herbs, and even some raspberry and citrus plants. What makes this an extra special occasion, is their head grower will be on hand to give growing advise and make suggestions on which varieties will do best in your location. All proceeds from the plant sales will go directly to their programs that give therapy to their clients in the Transitions Mental Health Services. This is a great opportunity to get your home garden up and running!
Our strawberry field is now open for u-pick each Tuesday and Friday from noon to 6 pm and Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm. Bring the family out for a fun time picking our delicious strawberries. Bring your own containers or use our baskets to pick into. The price will be $2.50 per pound, which works out to be about $2.50 per one pint basket ( our regular price when purchased already picked at the stand is $3/basket ). We will continue to have plenty of picked berries available at The Stand, along with all our other veggies and fruits.
This is a good time of the year to stock up on strawberries...A very easy way to preserve the berries is to freeze them....wash and de-stem the berries, spread them out single layer on a cookie sheet ( spray a little cooking oil on the cookie sheet to keep the berries from sticking), put it the freezer overnight, then in the morning collect the berries and put them into a plastic zip-lock baggie and return to the freezer. The frozen berries will last easily 9 to 10 months. They will be a little squishy "soft" when they defrost, but they will be great on top of ice cream and in smoothies...anywhere when a firm fresh berry isn't absolutely necessary.
WHAT'S IN YOUR HARVEST BOX THIS WEEK
Use the baby artichokes to make crispy artichoke hearts:
wash off the artichoke, remove the outer 2 or 3 set of dark green leaves until the remaining leaves are a lighter shade of green or cream color. Using a sharp knife, cut off the top 1 inch or so of the top of the artichoke, then remove the outer skin from the stem( yes, the inside of the stems are very delicious). Cut the artichoke in half lengthwise, steam 10 to 15 minutes until slightly soft, remove from the steamer, coat with olive oil and garlic powder. Grill on the bar-b-que or under the broiler oven for 5 to 10 minutes on each side until brown and crispy. At this point, the whole artichoke is edible...enjoy!
This week's peas are the English "shelling" type. These are the kind that you must open up the pods and take out the peas...don't try to eat the outside pods...they are tough and stringy...but the peas on the inside are sweet and tender.
Give the kids the job of shelling the peas...they will appreciate eating the peas after they put all the work into them.
Use the baby Bloomsdale spinach raw in salads or saute lightly with a little garlic and olive oil...don't overcook, keep it a little crispy ( be sure to wash the sand out of the spinach...I like to double wash and then spin in a salad spinner).
The fava beans are a real spring time treat...all of our restaurants that we sell to are currently featuring them on their seasonal menus. The easiest way to prepare them is:
Remove the "beans" from the outer pod.
Blanch the bean for a minute in boiling water, cool, and remove the outer "membrane" from each bean. Then you can use the bean in salads, or add them to your favorite stir-fry
PRODUCTS AVAILABLE AT OUR STAND FROM OTHER FARMERS AND BUSINESSES:
Blueberries from Gary Teixeira in Santa Maria
Pomegranate juice and sweet potatoes from Rocky Canyon Farm in Atascadero
Almond Brittle from Paso Almonds of SLO...freshly made each week by Rusty and his crew.
Vine-ripened tomatoes from Phillip and Nancy of SLO Grown Produce in Arroyo Grande ( pesticide free, greenhouse grown)
Persian Cucumbers from Ocean Breeze Greenhouse Farm in
Nipomo.
Goat Cheese from Steve of Happy Acres Farm in Templeton.
Oranges, lemons, avocados, and mandarins from Bob Polito of Valley Center, California.
Sweet Pea Bakery is at the farm every Friday, a little something to take care of your sweet tooth!
"Artisan" breads from the Eclair Bakery of The Village of Arroyo Grande every Friday and The Little Red Hen Bakery every Tuesday.
Vegetable and herb starts from The Transitions Mental Health Growing Grounds of Santa Maria...pesticide free!
Fresh fish and canned albacore for sale every Friday. 100% wild caught by San Luis Obispo County commercial fishermen. Or join the Fish CSA and get weekly deliveries; contact Margie at slofreshcatch@gmail.com or 481-5827."
Honey from Alisha of Rock Front Ranch near Cuyama Valley.
Sunflower "sprouts" from Carl and Ruth...one of our neighbors at the farm. "At Rutiz Farms, our goal is to provide the highest quality fresh produce while using sustainable farming practices, including legume green manure cover cropping, organic fertilizers, no pesticides and no GMO crops." Our goal is simple...to bring to our customers ( and their families ).. fresh, nutritious, and safe food at a reasonable price and good value.
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