So Far Behind, I'm Getting Ahead of Myself
I keep a running list of topics I want to blog about, but lately it seems that list only gets longer while nothing is added here. So, today, just for right now, I'm going to ramble.
It is Tuesday, CSA box-packing day at Riverview Farms (my in-laws' organic farm, in case you're just tuning in-- the link is listed at left, but I'm not responsible for the website!). I helped out a couple of weeks ago, weighing out one-pound bags of field peas from the sheller, folding bushel boxes, moving up and down rows adding paper bags of potatoes and tomatoes, loose squash and cucumbers, onions and garlic. There were also melons (two per box), bags of okra and green beans, and corn (several ears per box). It took five of us well into twilight to finish, when we could no longer see whether this box was missing its potatoes or that one was missing the onions. Then the boxes had to be closed and loaded into the reefer truck (refrigerated, silly), which has to run all night so the peas won't sprout and the melons won't rot. I wondered whether the members realize just exactly how spoiled rotten they are, getting these diverse boxes of just-picked organic produce packed neatly and delivered the day after coming out of the field. I want to be a CSA member!
The heirloom tomatoes-- early girls, sues, and some brandywines, I think:
These are tomatoes you will never see in a supermarket because they can't be shipped like that without getting positively destroyed. If you've never smelled rotten tomatoes you really should come visit. Meanwhile I am waiting impatiently for the technology that will allow me to photograph smells.
This is the pea sheller. Field peas go in the hopper on the top. It turns and vibrates and makes a huge racket, and the peas fall out the bottom into a mesh chute and bounce along to the end, where they fall into the black bucket. Magic!
It is Tuesday, CSA box-packing day at Riverview Farms (my in-laws' organic farm, in case you're just tuning in-- the link is listed at left, but I'm not responsible for the website!). I helped out a couple of weeks ago, weighing out one-pound bags of field peas from the sheller, folding bushel boxes, moving up and down rows adding paper bags of potatoes and tomatoes, loose squash and cucumbers, onions and garlic. There were also melons (two per box), bags of okra and green beans, and corn (several ears per box). It took five of us well into twilight to finish, when we could no longer see whether this box was missing its potatoes or that one was missing the onions. Then the boxes had to be closed and loaded into the reefer truck (refrigerated, silly), which has to run all night so the peas won't sprout and the melons won't rot. I wondered whether the members realize just exactly how spoiled rotten they are, getting these diverse boxes of just-picked organic produce packed neatly and delivered the day after coming out of the field. I want to be a CSA member!
The heirloom tomatoes-- early girls, sues, and some brandywines, I think:
These are tomatoes you will never see in a supermarket because they can't be shipped like that without getting positively destroyed. If you've never smelled rotten tomatoes you really should come visit. Meanwhile I am waiting impatiently for the technology that will allow me to photograph smells.
This is the pea sheller. Field peas go in the hopper on the top. It turns and vibrates and makes a huge racket, and the peas fall out the bottom into a mesh chute and bounce along to the end, where they fall into the black bucket. Magic!
Remembering to empty the hopper of hulls at the end has been found to be a crucial step in the success of subsequent shellings. Ahem.
Here are the hulls from one shelled batch:
Now that is a lot of fiber. I wonder what all can be done with pea hulls? I'm thinking spinning, weaving, wearable art...
posted by J.S. | 8:44 AM
1 Comments:
Ooooh, oooh, oooooooh! I love these photos! How envious I am of you lucky folks with production farms. I really need to get out more! ;)
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