WELCOME TO RUTIZ FARMS
Spring time has arrived and with it comes our own sweet pea flowers. Beautiful, multi-color bouquets with the fragrance of spring...only $5/ bunch.
Craig will have his wood-fired pizza oven at our farm stand this coming Saturday, May 4 and offering his delicious pizzas for sale. He will be using our farm's kale and potatoes as just some of the toppings. He will be serving the pizzas starting about noon and continuing until sold out ( probably till 3 or 4 in the afternoon ). Eat here or take home.
Kentucky Derby horse race is this coming Saturday...so be sure to pick up a bunch or two of our mint to make your Mint Julep cocktails ( a traditional drink enjoyed while watching the race )....recipe is below! And don't forget to wear your "Derby" hat!
MINT JULEP COCKTAIL RECIPE
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon Powdered sugar, 2 oz. Bourbon whiskey, 2 teaspoons Water, 4 Mint leaves
Preparation: In a highball glass gently muddle the mint, sugar and water. Fill the glass with cracked ice, add Bourbon and stir well until the glass is well frosted. Garnish with a mint sprig.
Our strawberry field is now open for u-pick each Tuesday and Friday from noon to 6 pm and Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm. Bring the family out for a fun time picking our delicious strawberries. Bring your own containers or use our baskets to pick into. The price will be $3.00 per pound, which works out to be about $3.00 per one pint basket ( our regular price when purchased already picked at the stand is $3.50 /basket ).
For those of you interested in larger quantities of pick-your-own, we will lower the price to $2/ pound if you pick 10 pounds or more.
This season we have 4 varieties of strawberries...Gaviota, Fronteras, Chandler, and Cabrillo. As you are picking in the field, be sure to look for the signs at the beginnings of the rows that identify each variety . Let us know which is your favorite!
Customers sometimes ask--"do you sell any jam or #2 strawberries?" The answer is not intentionally. But quite often, we'll have a few flats left over from the previous day, which we will offer the next day as "day old" berries and sell them at $20/ flat. Be sure to follow Rutiz Farms on Facebook and Instagram each morning to find out if there will be discounted berries offerings that day.
With all the recent press telling us that "conventionally" grown strawberries are one of the top risks for having pesticide residues, you can rest assured that our berries are grown with no pesticide sprays. We've had some "mixed" reviews on the flavor of our strawberries so far this season. Without me trying to make excuses, until we get some sunny and warmer weather, the strawberry plants have trouble getting the high sugar into the ripening berries. Rest assured, that our strawberries will get better as the spring progressives....but most people think they are pretty good right now!
We are now open till 6 pm on Tuesday through Fridays! You can now make over to the farm stand after work and pick up some fresh veggies and berries for dinner.
Our "summer" hours are Tuesdays through Fridays, noon to 6 pm and Saturdays, 10 am to 4 pm.
Phillip, from SLO Grown Produce in Arroyo Grande, is now bringing us his hot house grown "Persian" cucumbers and his "English" cucumbers.
THIS FRIDAY AT THE STAND.
Teixeira Cattle Co beef.
Little Red Hen bread will be taking this Friday off...her bread will be back next Tuesday, May 7.
BlissRiver Organics elderberry syrup.
Kacey Cakes gluten free treats
Central Coast Catch ( fish ) will offer their pre-ordered deliveries...contact Kevin Hall at [email protected] for sign up info.
THIS SATURDAY AT THE STAND
Shannon and Justin from MicroCosmic Organics will be offering their organic microgreens .
Nelson and Christina from Wild Bread Co will have their freshly baked breads.
Jennifer from The Vreamery will have her dairy-free cheeses every 1st and 3rd Saturday.
WHAT'S IN THE HARVEST BOX THIS WEEK
Grown on our farm using organic farming methods: strawberries, fava beans, broccoli, celery, carrots, artichokes, red butter lettuce, salad mix, and spinach.
English cucumber from Phillip at SLO Grown Produce in Arroyo Grande...pesticide free.
Zutano avocados from David Righetti in SLO.
What to do with the fava beans:
FAVA BEAN DIP WITH GOAT CHEESE AND GARLIC
1 cup shelled fava beans
1 tsp salt
2 cloves chopped garlic
olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice and lemon zest
1/8 cup of water
3 oz goat cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Remove the fava bean from the outer pod, add the beans to boiling salted water, simmer for 5 minutes, remove the beans from the hot water and place in a bowl of ice water to stop cooking and to maintain their bright green color, when the beans have cooled, remove the outer peel from each bean. In a small skillet, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil on medium heat, add the chopped garlic, cook about 3 minutes, place peeled beans in a food processor with garlic, lemon and water, pulse until smooth, add a tbsp of olive oil and finish pureeing. Combine with goat cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Use as a dip with your carrots, cucumbers and broccoli.
PASTA FAGIOLI WITH FAVA BEANS
Cook fava beans as noted in the above recipe and then add them to cooked pasta...season with olive oil and garlic.
Use the
baby artichokes
to make crispy artichoke hearts:
wash off the artichoke, remove the outer 2 or 3 set of dark green leaves until the remaining leaves are a lighter shade of green or cream color. Using a sharp knife, cut off the top 1 inch or so of the top of the artichoke, then remove the outer skin from the stem( yes, the inside of the stems are very delicious). Cut the artichoke in half lengthwise, steam 10 to 15 minutes until slightly soft, remove from the steamer, coat with olive oil and garlic powder. Grill on the bar-b-que or under the broiler oven for 5 to 10 minutes on each side until brown and crispy. At this point, the whole artichoke is edible...enjoy!
The
Zutano avocados have just been picked and thus will need a week or so to ripened. To ensure a quicker and even ripening, put the avocados in a paper bag (with a apple or a ripe banana) on your kitchen counter .
PRODUCTS AVAILABLE AT OUR STAND FROM OTHER FARMERS AND BUSINESSES:
Springville Ranch "Grass Fed" Ground Beef ..for sale in frozen 1 pound packages
Custom canned Premium Albacore caught by Wayne and Diane Moody of Arroyo Grande. Check out their website at EatAlbacore.com for more info on their sustainable fishing methods, their history and recipe ideas.
Medjool Dates from Christina and Robert at the Flying Disc Ranch located in Coachella Valley ( near Palm Springs ).
Nini Cookie brings her assorted sweet and savoy treats every Tuesday.
"Artisan" breads from "Little Red Hen" Bakery every Tuesday and Friday and N.14th Wild Bread Co. every Saturday.
Goat cheeses from Drake Farms in Southern California...apricot and honey, jalapeno, herbs de Provence, and garlic and onion flavors.
Heather and John Teixeira bring their locally raised beef cuts to our stand every 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month. Sarah and Ryan from Beewench Farms brings their frozen chickens every 2nd and 4th Friday.
Almond Brittle from Paso Almonds of SLO...freshly made each week by Rusty and his crew.
Bone Broth made with BeeWench chicken bones and organic vegetables.
Sierra High brand Lavender and White Sage essential oils.
Vegetable and herb starts from The Transitions Mental Health Growing Grounds of Santa Maria...pesticide free!
We have two great beekeepers that bring their honey to our stand...Alisha Taft from the Rock Front Ranch near Cuyama brings her sage and wildflower honeys and David's Blue Ribbon Honey ( and bee pollen ) from the Arroyo Grande area.
"At Rutiz Farms, our goal is to provide the highest quality fresh produce while using sustainable farming practices, including legume green manure cover cropping, organic fertilizers, no pesticides and no GMO crops." Our goal is simple...to bring to our customers ( and their families ).. fresh, nutritious, and safe food at a reasonable price and good value.
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Available at the Stand
Here are the items that we should have on the "table" for this week:
strawberries--$3.50/ basket, 3 baskets for $10
Snap peas---$4/ pound
English shelling peas--$4/ pound
delicata squash--$1.50/ pound
Butternut squash--$1/ pound
baby bok choy--$1.50 / bunch
artichokes--$3 for $2
sweet potatoes--$2/ pound, purple flesh
fennel--$1 each
kale--$2/ bunch
dandelion greens--$2/ bunch
collard greens---$2/ bunch
Green garlic --$2/ bunch
chard--$2/ bunch
beets--$2/ bunch
radishes--$1.50/ bunch
lettuce-- $1.50 each
"Sierra Gold" potatoes--$2/ pound
fava beans--$3/ pound
"Mokum" orange baby carrots--$2.50 / bunch
Chantenay carrots--$2/ pound
leeks--$ 2 pound
baby mixed salad greens--$2/ bag of about 1/2 pound
Endive --$3/ bag of about 1/2 pound
spicy greens mix--$3/ bag of about 1/2 pound
Bloomsdale baby spinach--$2/ bag
fresh herbs--$1/ bunch.. Italian flat-leaf parsley, cilantro , mint, rosemary, French tarragon
Flowers: $6 / bunch
from other growers ( pesticide free unless otherwise noted )
blueberries--$4/ basket
Meyer lemons--$2.50/ pound
Cara Cara oranges---$1.50/ pound
Mandarin tangerines--$2.50/ pound
apples--$2.50/ pound
yellow onions--$1.00/ pound ( "conventionally grown" in Washington State)
Honey:,$14 for a 1 pound jar, $22 for a 2 pound jar
goat cheese--$7/ tub
almond brittle--$5 / 5 oz bag or $13/ 1 pound bag
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Harvest Box Info
You are welcome to come by and pick out individual items from the table or continue to pick up your reserved Harvest box or both( add items that may not be included in your Box that week)..The Harvest Boxes, which cost $20 / week , will be available for pick up during the Stand hours on Fridays only. I would ask you to kindly let me know by Thursday evening of each week, with a E mail response( use the link in the right hand column of this newsletter where it says Order Your Harvest Box) if you want a Box for the week. Please take note: this ordering link is only usable for the current week's newsletter....After Friday morning of each week, the ordering link becomes unusable!
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Order Your Harvest Box
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(this ordering link is only active until 7am Friday of the week that this newsletter was originally sent out.
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Produce in the Harvest Box this week:
fava beans
Mokum baby carrots
a head of red butter lettuce
celery
baby artichokes
broccoli
spinach
an "English" cucumber
a bag of salad mix
Zutano avocados
a basket of our strawberries
PLEASE bring back the empty boxes each week.
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Stand Hours
OPEN RAIN/SHINE
Tuesdays through Fridays: noon to 6pm
Saturdays: 10am to 4pm
FARM STAND LOCATION:
1075 "The Pike" in Arroyo Grande.
We are located on the south side of The Pike, between Halcyon Road and Elm Street. Visit our web site at
www.Rutizfarms.com for a map to the farm.
Our mailing address is:
Rutiz Farms
333 Miller Way
Arroyo Grande, Ca 93420
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