Things have gotten back to a dull roar here on the farm after the Christmas holidays. Carl and his cohorts are finishing up this year’s Christmas tree and wreath, so I wont have to drag it to the front of the property for the Chirstmas Tree Pick Up Crew, after all. The goats are treating the dried tree as if it’s a foreign delicacy, with Carl lording over which family member gets the best munching position…after him that is. He abandoned his tasty tree guarding duty long enough to escape from the corral to eat all of the newspaper I had carefully taped to the side of the house as a drip guard for the long awaited painting of the farm house. Sometimes he lets us think that we’ve solved the Goat Escaping Issue, just long enough for us to high five each other, do the We Beat Carl Dance, and get complacent. He ate the blue tape, and all the newspaper that I’d spent hours getting just right. We continue to work on electrifying the corral, but have encountered technical issues that our friend Bob is addressing.
We’re continuing to gather macadamia nuts, and they’re in both small and large boxes today. I tried a chocolate covered macadamia recipe: melt a semi sweet chocolate (I buy ours from Trader Joes) in a glass bowl. It doesn’t look melted if you use a microwave for this until you take it out and stir. Toss in nuts, put spoonfuls of coated nuts on wax paper and chill in refrigerator. Make the clusters small! This is a very rich
dessert.
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The last of the crazy, 3-counties-in-one-day delivery schedule; we all started with flash lights this morning to get all the boxes done. We’re shutting the farm down except for watering and livestock care until Thursday after we’re all done deliveries today. I probably will spend some time in the greenhouse because it’s just such an exciting time of year with seeds coming in now from my earlier December purchases. Morning Song Farm leans heavily toward heirloom seeds; so we order a lot from Seed Savers’ Exchange and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Even if you’re NOT gardening or farming, getting your hands on either of their catalogs is an inspiring, eye-candy experience. Below is today’s just-harvested Gardens and Groves Large Box, we harvested Swiss Chard at the last minute for Large Boxes only…. after I took this image, so it’s not included in the photo:
Wow, trucks on the road this Monday at 7:45 a.m., as we aren’t harvesting or delivering on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve….so all three county deliveries: Riverside, San Diego and OC are being done today. We were up really late finishing up the macadamia packs for all Gardens n’ Groves boxes, and were back in the barn at 4:00 a.m. to get everything finished up. Here’s an image of the Large Garden and Grove Box at right:
And here’s an image of our Salad Fixins’ boxes for the week. I took the shot while we were still harvesting green onions and arugula, so they’re not in the photo.
Results of my latest veggie trial are in! Pea sprouts are awesome! My thoughts: the are best eaten raw with a little dash of garlic infused olive oil and a splash of lime juice…but I tried them today, stir fried with coconut oil and sea salt and they were tasty that way, too. Great for picky kids (and adults) who aren’t huge veggie fans, as these crunchy gems are very mild flavored for the nutritional punch they provide.Although not seen often in restaurants or farmers’ markets in the United States, pea shoots have a lot to offer!They provide foliate, antioxidants and carotene..reported to be cancer preventatives. They have 7 times as much vitamin C as blueberries, and a lot more vitamin A, compared to tomatoes. The anti-inflammatory properties of certain foods are now in the media more and more, and pea shoots are among those foods cited. Because pea shoots offer such a satisfying crunch coupled with high nutrient/low calorie content…they’re a good choice for an effective weight loss program.
We’re excited to have our baby carrots back in Large Garden n’ Grove Boxes this week, and are including our raw macadamia nuts in all Garden n’ Grove Boxes as well. More than enough Satsuma mandarins for all, including our Salad Fixins’ boxes, which don’t usually receive fruit from the groves. Satsumas are our first mandarin to harvest, after which we start on the Sun Golds.
To view an image of our Garden n’ Grove Harvest this week, click here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2pmw3jdu6z7gtp6/2nd%20week%20%282%29.jpg
To view an image of our Salad Fixins box this week, click here:https://www.dropbox.com/s/v7vw586iaioyv63/2nd%20week.jpg
Come on out to Morning Song Farm and get your hands dirty! Projects abound, and we’ve got a laundry list of “to do’s” that we’d like to tackle and sure could use some help. Let us know you’re coming: csa@morningsongfarm.com so we can be prepared in every way….parking is always a bit of an issue, and of course we’ll want to have all supplies needed for chosen projects! Hopefully we will have enough participants to divide into teams so that you can choose what you’d like to do. We’ll have coffee/tea and macadamia muffins to get you started!
Date: Dec. 7th
Time: 9-1:00
We continue to enjoy and trail sprout seeds for our CSA boxes. Many may not be aware that it is not safe to purchase generic seeds, whether organic or otherwise, at the grocery store, farmers’ market or on-line and use them for sprouts. The seeds we use here are certified organic, grown in North America, and were grown specifically for commercial sprout applications. Each and every lot is labeled and tested for bacteria contamination. Seeds that are sold for gardeners to plant in the soil or for consumers to grind and use as flour or add to smoothies do not need to have the same level of safe handling practices.
We’re excited about our newest trial: our Ancient Grain Mix: lentils, fenugreek, kamut, and adzuki beans. A few years’ back I recall a concern in New York City of a mysterious maple syrup scent that would present itself from time to time. The source turned out to be an international importer of fenugreek seeds. True enough, the seeds do smell heavenly sweet; more like a spice for dessert than a source for a salad sprout.
Adzuki beans are ancient, and sweet, too. The little bean is recognized by its sweet, nutty flavor and is often used in Japanese cooking for desserts.
Kamut is an ancient member of the wheat family and contains 40% more protein than a typical wheat used today. While our modern breeding programs have left it behind; it continues to offer its ancient nutrition, flavor and goodness to all who will give it a try.