Morning Song Farm News

For identification purposes, above are images of Arugula, Passionfruit, Passionflower, and Kale. I made a simple salad for lunch today with an entire bunch of arugula and about a quarter of the bunch of cilantro; no lettuce at all. I added a few crushed macadamia nuts, and thinly sliced radishes. I used a whole lime, squeezed over the greens with a little California Olive Oil dashed across the serving with a pinch of the crushed Kung Pao dried chili pepper you've been getting in your baskets each week. As a finishing touch I crumbled a little dried mint over the whole plate. Delicious! We Pause Now for a Word About Kale Remember that Kale can be eaten cooked and served hot like you would Swiss Chard, or can be chilled after cooking and served as a salad ingredient. Kale is among the most nutrition-packed vegetables a farmer can grow. It is an excellent source of carotenes, vitamins C and B6, and manganese. One cup of kale supplies more than 70 percent of the RDI for vitamin C, wit...

Conventionally grown potatoes are almost certainly doused with chlorprohham (CIPC) which is the most effective post-harvest sprout inhibitor registered for use in potatoes in the U.S. While spraying your food, workers are required by safety regulations to don respirators and wear protective clothing. There is an inevitable and legally allowable accumulation of residue at the moment of consumption of even the peeled tuber.

From Vegetable Growers News , this just out: “The EPA has registered Syngenta Crop Protection’s Voliam Xpress insecticide. Voliam Xpress is approved for use on head and leaf lettuce, fruiting vegetables, head and stem brassicas and cucurbit vegetables.” …Voliam Xpress utilizes two modes of action to protect crops from chewing and sucking insects as well as lepidopteran pests. It contains chlorantraniliprole, a new mode of action from the diamide family of insecticides, and lambda-cyhalothrin, a third-generation phyrethroid insecticide. The two active ingredients are combined in an enhanced solution that provides fast knockdown and long-lasting residual control…”

Below is my favorite pumpkin pie recipe. The blue culinary pumpkins you have been receiving in your baskets are grown specifically for this recipe. Crack open your pumpkin on the driveway or other hard surface, scoop out the seeds and bake at 350 degrees until soft enough to scoop out. You can save that beautiful pumpkin for Thanksgiving if you like. It can be stored for months, unlike the Halloween pumpkins you may have purchased at the grocery store, these pumpkins are specifically grown for their storage and culinary uses. We have opened another drop off site in Costa Mesa at the organic leaning Coastal Children's Learning Center. The address is 2245 Orange Avenue, Costa Mesa 92672. Their website is http://www.coastalclc.com/ . Host Kristin Bryson can be reached at 949-722-1005. Also, we are actively trying to start a new drop off near UCI in Irvine. The address is in a residential neighborhood at the corner of University Drive and Goldenglow Street, Irvine. Please tell your Ir...