The Dirty Dozen--by Environmental Working Group

Recently, we read an interesting article listing the "dirtiest" produce found in the grocery. The article was not referring to dirt, but rather pesticide residue. Spinach, lettuce and kale were amongst the top 12. The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-profit organization created in 1993 to provide the public with information regarding health and the environment, puts out a yearly list of the dirtiest/cleanest produce.

Here is the link: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/

EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce
Dirty dozen
Buy these organic
1 - Apples
2 - Celery
3 - Strawberries
4 - Peaches
5 - Spinach
6 - Nectarines– imported
7 - Grapes – imported
8 - Sweet bell pepper
9 - Potatoes
10 - Blueberries – domestic
11 - Lettuce
12 - Kale/collard greens
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Clean 15
Lowest in Pesticide
1 - Onions
2 - Sweet Corn
3 - Pineapples
4 - Avocado
5 - Asparagus
6 - Sweet peas
7 - Mangoes
8 - Eggplant
9 - Cantaloupe - domestic
10 - Kiwi
11 - Cabbage
12 - Watermelon
13 - Sweet potatoes
14 - Grapefruit
15 - Mushrooms

*** Starring: Sorrel ***

Sorrel is coming to market. After doing a little research on this herb, we found that its classic use is a sauce for fish. We tried the following recipe and were quite impressed! Made us feel like gourmet cooks.

In a saucepan, combine 1/2 c chopped fresh sorrel leaves, 2 T dry white wine & 3 T minced green onion. On medium heat, cook the leaves until they wilt, about 2 minutes. Add 1 c whipping cream and 1-1/2 t fresh lime juice. Simmer the mixture and reduce to sauce consistency, about 12 minutes. Puree the sauce. (We blended it in a Betty Crocker Little Chopper.) Return the sauce to the pan and reheat it. Season to taste with salt & pepper. We cooked tilapia fillets in a pan with a little bit of olive oil. Top the fish with the sauce and enjoy!

We found this recipe on http://www.mariquita.com/recipes/sorrel.html

Lettuce Care

Long-lasting lettuce is our specialty. Harvesting the lettuce with its roots, keeps the plants alive helping them stay fresh longer for you. We also recommend wrapping the roots with a damp papertowel. The lettuce can be put back in the bag and kept in the refrigerator crisper drawer.

Personally, we love our OXO salad spinner. Sometimes, we will clean the entire head of lettuce, break it up (or use a salad knife), and then store what we don't use in the salad spinner in our refrigerator. This allows the lettuce to keep drained. Excess water on the leaves will cause it to spoil. Also, it makes it easy for the next meal!

Here's a picture of a salad knife for the curious. It keeps the cut edges from turning brown.

*** Starring: Bok Choy ***

Bok Choy is a wonderful addition to any stir fry. We love it because the stalks keep their crunch. Here is our favorite way to stir fry.

After rinsing the bok choy, we chop up the stems and leaves. We cut up any other vegetables we have in the refrigerator (carrots, cabbage, celery, peppers, onions, etc), totaling 6-8 cups of veggies. The key secret in our stir fry is pouring boiling hot water over the vegetables and letting them soak for 4 minutes or so. We drain them immediately in a colander and run cold water over the veggies to stop the cooking process. This gives them a head start and makes tender-crisp stir fry.

In a wok, we heat up some olive oil. We toss in minced/chopped garlic and grate gingerroot, if we have it. We stir fry chicken/beef chunks until done. (Usually, we use about four chicken breasts.) Next, we throw in the veggies and about 1/2 t. of salt. Basically, we simply heat up the veggies. They won't need too much more cooking.

Finally, we mix 1/2 c water, 2 T soy sauce & 1 T cornstarch in a separate bowl. Once the mixture dissolves, we pour it into the wok with everything else. We cook until the liquid thickens to the desired consistency.
Then, we pair it with rice and dig in!

RAM is ending... but look forward to FRAM!

To our RAM customers:

The Riverside Arts Market will be ending for the year on December 17th, but don't worry -- the Farmers' RAM will be in the same place every Saturday, January 7th - February 25th, 10 am - 1 pm. You can look forward to stopping by for your fresh lettuces & greens and our upcoming tomatoes & cucumbers. See you at Market!

Greenhouse Construction

We are expanding! Construction on the new greenhouse began several weeks ago. Today, the plastic sides are going up. Plenty of work remains, but here are some progress photos.

Cucumber Update

For those of you who have heard Fred & Freddie say, "The cukes are coming...", well, today they are a little closer. Freddie planted the seeds a while back but had to wait on a spot in the new greenhouse. Today, the seedlings found their home.

Sunday's Salad

Obviously, dinner in our family is not complete without salad. Today, we mixed lollo bionda and red oakleaf lettuce adding mandarin oranges, green onion & toasted pecans for this delicious salad.

We've Gone Live!

Looking forward to blogging and interacting with our customers. We will keep a weekly list of what's going to market each week. Also, we will try to share interesting tidbits about the farm and produce. See you at Market!