Circle M Farm

I ate my first pea shoot today. As the plant was only an inch tall, I was really jumping the gun on the spring harvest, but I couldn’t resist. So green. So fresh. So tasty!

Yum. I was introduced to the concept of eating pea shoots, rather than waiting for pods, while working at a lovely organic farm in my neighborhood, Garden to Be outside of Mt. Horeb. The farmers, Scott and April, sell primarily to restaurants in Chicago and Madison. Their niche is producing shoots and micro-greens of various row crops and flowers which can be eaten fresh in salads, used for unique garnishes or sauteed in pasta dishes. Sunflower shoots, usually harvested at about 3 inches tall, are my favorite, though Shungiku chrysanthemum greens run a close second. At their farm, we raise these in the greenhouse, but for the Circle M CSA, I’ll experiment with growing them in my fields and cold frames.

I’m amazed that anyone was ever able to harvest peas in the pod when the greens themselves are so delicious. In fact, they taste LIKE spring. But until my plants get bigger, I am limiting myself to two leaves a day. Two pea leaves for me, some quick hand-weeding and a back scratch for Piggy Lou. That’s my morning routine out in the early garden, which sits on the highest elevation of my property, next to the plot that my pretty pig is tilling up for the summer sunflower garden.

The routine has actually been changing these past few days. Our daily backrubs through the fence have evolved more into a spa treatment, as the kinder, gentler Piggy Lou now falls heavily over after a few scratches and sighs deeply until I come out of my garden and into hers. The poor dear mama-to-be needs her daily belly massage, and it is quite impossible to deny her when she’s making such pitiful, needy sounds. Seeing my animals happy inevitably makes me happy, and I figure she’ll be working awfully hard in a few weeks when her many piglets arrive and start making pitiful, needy sounds for her. Enjoy the pampering while you can, my large lady!