During this past Monday’s Emergency Pea Harvest, we managed to rescue about 10 pounds of fresh green peas for this week’s CSA delivery ! Due to the drought and excessive heat, our CSA member planted pea field collapsed overnight and needed immediate harvesting.

We made a slight dent in the pea field, and will invite members and friends to return this Saturday, June 11th, 8:30 to 10:30 am, to continue the pea harvest. The rest of the peas are dried and will make great seed for next spring and pea soup this winter.

We are also asking everyone to submit their favorite pea recipes to share with each other. So far everyone’s favorite way to eat them is to simply boil or steam them in their pods, sprinkle on some sea salt and eat them like an Edaname ! Tim promises to send us his Mashed Pea recipe!

At the Pea Planting session, I received many requests from kids to feed the animals. But since the animals had been fed earlier that morning, we couldn’t feed them again. But then the idea was born that a Green Cow Animal Feeding session should be organized. This Sunday, April 17th, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. we will be holding a Green Cow Animal Feeding session.

We will be feeding the cows, pigs, chickens, and worms and learning about what they like to eat. The session will begin promptly at 8:30 am.

After the feeding, we will also be demonstrating how to make Rosemary Sea Salt and learning about the many uses for spring herbs that you are receiving in your CSA boxes.

Next Sunday, April 24th, 8:30 a.m. to !0:30 a.m. we will be holding a Green Cow Weeds and Weeding session. We will harvest edible weeds and also weed the pea, potato, and peanut fields. Please bring gloves and a hat !

The farm is also calling for donations of dvds or cds to use in natural pests control. We tie them up to a scarecrow and have found it to be most effective in preventing birds from eating our planted seeds and sprouts.

In addition, please bring over any kitchen scraps for our new bamboo worm box. And if you’ve got any old grains or past the shelf-life but still edible foods you need to clear out, we can use it for the chickens. If you have any non-edible, but better for the compost piles than the landfills, please bring and feed to our compost piles. If you cannot make these sessions, but have items to contribute, please give it to our driver when he makes your weekly delivery. Please RSVP by signing up by Friday April 15th for the Sunday, April 17th session ; by Friday, April 22nd for the Sunday, April 24th session.

Honeybees ‘entomb’ hives to protect against pesticides, say scientists.

By sealing up cells full of contaminated pollen, bees appear to be attempting to protect the rest of the hive   Honeybees are taking emergency measures to protect their hives from pesticides, in an extraordinary example of the natural world adapting swiftly to our depredations, according to a prominent bee expert.

Scientists have found numerous examples of a new phenomenon – bees “entombing” or sealing up hive cells full of pollen to put them out of use, and protect the rest of the hive from their contents. The pollen stored in the sealed-up cells has been found to contain dramatically higher levels of pesticides and other potentially harmful chemicals than the pollen stored in neighbouring cells, which is used to feed growing young bees.

Read the rest of the article at:

Honeybees ‘entomb’ hives to protect against pesticides, say scientists

We want to give a special thanks to those who came out for our March 20th Pea Planting ! You can now see that our own pea seeds saved from last year were fertile and are growing well.  We will have to monitor it carefully since we did have a problem with leafminers last spring.  Depending on weather conditions we should be enjoying fresh peas at the end of May !   Yum!

Pea Planting: Sunday, March 17th, 8:30-11:30 am.

Complimentary coffee and bagels from 8:30 am to 9:30 am.    (directions and map are now on Greencowfarm.com)

This event is outdoors so please dress appropriately. Bring along pair of work gloves and a hat !  And be prepare to get your hands dirty !   We encourage you to also bring along your kitchen scraps to contribute to our compost making effort. (our kitchen composting site is right by the parking area)

RSVP: please email Lejen with the number of people attending by  March 18.

Upcoming vegetables:
Look for Chinese Broccoli and Pea Sprouts in your basket this week.  Strawberries will be in season in about 2-3 weeks.

Green Cow items are now available with your CSA delivery: 
Place a standing order by email or call Denise (8046-4301). Please order 3 days in advance to allow us time to make your order.
fresh low-fat or whole-fat milk   (500g) 20 yuan
low-fat or whole-fat yoghurt   (200g) 20yuan ; 400g 35 yuan
cultured butter    (112g) 45yuan
fresh ground peanut butter    (220g) 45 yuan
sour cream or greek yoghurt   (250g) 45 yuan
free range eggs    (one dozen) 60 yuan
organic bagels: plain, wholewheat, or honey-sprouted wheat (frozen package of 3pcs) 40 yuan

All of our dairy products hormone-free, antibiotic-free, low-temp. pasteurized and  are not homogenized!   Please contact us if you would like to try our fresh raw milk.

Learn more about raw milk issues from around the world: http://hartkeisonline.com/food-politics/raw-milk-around-the-world/