Meet this week’s Mac veggies:
(Photo coming soon!)
- Sugar snap peas — Just in time for summer! This is probably the latest we’ve started picking our peas (and we planted these early this year!), but they’re on! And so good! In case these are new to you, Sugar Snap peas are “edible pod” peas, which means that they have been bred to be eaten whole in their entirety. They’re absolutely delicious completely raw, either on their own or with a dip (we love them with hummus). That’s how we eat most of the peas in our household, but they are also good chopped and added to stir-fries (similar to snow peas in this fashion). Enjoy!
- Fava beans — These, on the other hand, do need to be shelled. The shells are thick and fibrous, so definitely pop out the beans before eating! The inner bright green bean also has a somewhat bitter white skin, which some people like to remove by peeling with a finger nail or paring knife (or blanching and then “popping” out). Other people find this step annoying and just eat the beans with the skin (which is totally edible and tender — it’s just a matter of preference). Once shelled (and possible peeled), fava beans can be lightly boiled, steamed, eaten raw (when young and tender), or sautéed with onions in butter. They’re great added to pasta dishes (kale + fava beans + garlic scapes + pasta = yummy!).
- Strawberries — Aren’t these so good? And 100% free of any pesticides or fungicides! Yay!
- Salad mix
- Leaf lettuce
- Kale
- Onions OR onion tops
- Garlic scapes
One afternoon this week, I squatted low next to Rusty, hidden from view by seven-foot tall rows of trellised peas on either side. He spotted a big fat pod and reached out. I held the vine while he pulled and yanked the pea pod off. He took a bite out of the middle and chewed thoughtfully before reaching for another pod and another and another.
Sometimes, he’d eat bites, and sometimes he’d just fill his hand before putting them one-by-one into my vest pocket for later. Other times, Rusty would indicate that he wanted me to open a pod, and then I’d hold it out while he picked out each individual tiny pea and popped them into his mouth. If he dropped one in the path, he would stop and carefully investigate the dirt until he found it. I was lucky enough that he offered me a few tiny peas as well, holding them out and putting them in my mouth (although at least once he ‘faked me’ out by offering it and then quickly putting it into his own mouth instead!).
And, then, when peas had lost Rusty’s interest, he walked back out of the row, holding my hand and leading me farther down the field. Our next stop: the fava beans, where we repeated the ritual all over again, with the addition of peeling each individual bean.
After the fava beans, we headed to the east, through our apple and pear orchard to the strawberry planting that has been providing you with delicious fruit the last couple weeks.
In the strawberries, Rusty needed no help from me finding the red berries and plucking them off the plants. In fact, this is one crop where his size is advantageous, and his confident toddler squat brought him into a perfect level for picking strawberries. I watched as Rusty picked a deep red one, brought it immediately to his mouth, took a huge bite, and then sighed with contentment, red juice dribbling down his chin. By the time we left the strawberry patch, Rusty’s lips and cheeks were also smeared red, and I’m sure I too had a few marks from my own tastes.
I picked him up to carry on my hip as we headed back to the house along the creek. Every few feet, Rusty would point to the tall grass to show me flowers: dandelions, red clover blossoms, white clover. I picked blossoms along the way, which Rusty gathered into a small bouquet in his hand. When we arrived back at the house, we picked out an empty canning jar, filled it with water, and put Rusty’s first flower bouquet on the dining table.
This is Rusty’s second summer on the farm. Last year at this time, he had just started sitting up unassisted, and we were beginning to introduce foods (raspberries were a big hit last summer!). Rusty’s first farm summer was joyful and fun, but this summer is an entirely fresh experience for all of us.
He started walking on his first birthday last December, so by the time mild weather arrived this spring, he was steady on his feet and ready to explore the farm. He enjoyed picking rapini and over-wintered broccoli this spring, but now that warm season crops have arrived, Rusty’s is even more excited about exploring and harvesting for himself. As far as we can tell, Rusty’s understanding of the world is that it is a giant, beautiful garden, full of food that he can eat. We think that’s a pretty neat worldview.
Of course, it caused us some trouble this weekend when we happened to walk into a Whole Foods produce department and Rusty started gesturing wildly at the strawberries. On the farm, he’d be welcome to eat them of course, but not so much in a store. Not needing any produce ourselves, we chose to quickly leave rather than try to teach him the distinctions between the farm and the store just yet.
Of course, Rusty will eat almost anything if it’s fresh in the field, just picked by him or us, but he’s more of a typical toddler when we’re eating in the house. We try not to push him to eat anything, instead just offering different wholesome options periodically throughout the day.
We’ve found that his concept of a ‘mealtime’ is very different than ours and can often stretch over a long period of time, starting with self-feeding at his high chair, then some spoon-feeding on Mama’s lap from her plate, and then some more self-feeding in Papa’s lap from his plate, and then even a few bites while running around the house (as Mama and Papa attempt to finish eating their own meals!).
Rusty is usually willing to try most things, but demonstrates pretty typical toddler preferences overall: chicken, raisins, bread, etc. We offer him greens and other vegetables, which sometime go over well (broccoli is usually a winner), but other times he looks at us like we’re crazy (cooked greens often elicit this response).
Of course, since we take him on harvest-walks in the field at least once a day, we have the advantage of not really needing to worry about diversity in his diet. Whether he’ll only eat bread at dinner or not, we know he’ll sample a million other fresh raw veggies in the field. (Plus, I’m still nursing him too, providing another great source of nutrition.)
Rusty’s natural — and completely untaught — love of harvesting makes me wonder about ancestral memories or genetic wiring (whatever you want to call it) … humans have such a long history of living with the land, whether it be in the form of agriculture or foraging or fishing or some combination thereof. Eating is of course necessary to our existence, but food and eating are also at the core of culture, society, pleasure, family. How deep do these acts go into our being? Casey and I have always found growing, tending, and harvesting food to be extremely satisfying on every level, and so it is awesome to watch similar joy and wonder at work in our very young son.
We have always been ok with the idea that our children might not love farming the way we do, but we have also always hoped that the farm would at least be a great setting for them to grow up, surrounded by safe places to explore and learn at their leisure. So far, that seems to be true for Rusty, our littlest harvester.
And, even though most of you live in town, we know that many of our CSA members have gardens or yards that they tend with similar goals of connecting children with growing things. And, of course, you are in the CSA, which provides eaters of all ages a more intimate relationship with the source of their food, the people who grow it, and the place where it grows.
So, we hope you will take the opportunity this weekend to visit the farm during our start-of-summer CSA open house. Casey will give guided farm tours starting just after the hour, and kids will have the opportunity to help plant our pumpkin patch (and then come and pick pumpkins at our fall open house in October!). Hope to see you here this Sunday, and in the meantime, enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
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CSA Open House this Sunday!
June 26, 3-5 pm ~ It’s summer! Celebrate by coming to our CSA open house this Sunday. Casey will give guided farm tours (including to the new land), starting just after the hour (so at 3:10ish and 4:10ish), and kids will have the opportunity to help plant our pumpkin patch! Hope to see you here!
Directions to the farm: From McMinnville, take HWY-18 to Dayton. From Newberg, take 99W to HWY-18 to Dayton. Take the Dayton exit, and head SOUTH, straight through town on Wallace Rd/HWY-221. Drive for about seven miles, until you see blue signs for Heiser Pumpkin Patch and the road sign for Grand Island Rd. Turn LEFT onto Grand Island Rd. Stay on this road as it goes over a bridge and drops down onto the island. At the first 4-way intersection, turn RIGHT onto SE Upper Island Rd. Our driveway is almost immediately on your LEFT. (Look for a big white farmhouse and a red pole barn at the road.) You can park anywhere safe along the driveway or in front of the long white pole barn in the back. Our farm is to the RIGHT side of the driveway and we will be gathering on our yard by our two-story cedar house (toward the end of the driveway). See you here!
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CSA payment due by July 1!
A reminder for those of you on the CSA payment plan. The next payment is due by July 1. Mac folks, you can bring a check to pick-up or mail it. Newberg folks, please mail your payment to us. Mail checks made out to “Oakhill Organics” to P.O. Box 1698, McMinnville, OR 97128. Here are reminders of the amounts:
- Mac Medium share payment ~ $157
- Mac Large share payment ~ $243
- Mac Double Medium share payment ~ $304
- Newberg share payment ~ $180
Also, some of you have differently prorated share prices, so your payments might be different — check your invoice or email if you have any questions about what you owe!
