Morning Song Farm News

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. Here's a British website link, devoted to the nutritional value of pea shoots: http://www.peashoots.com/peashoots-nutrition.htm     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 food...

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. Click here to view our Harvest Ticket this week:

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