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Peas on Earth - Eric and Ruby Chen
St. Albert, Alberta
"Eat your veggies - green ones, red ones, yellow ones too"
By Pamela Irving
pkirving@telus.net 780-706-0482
Fresh
organic vegetables - colourful, crunchy, satisfying, trans-fat free
and nutrient dense - what’s not to love? No calories, just good
food value. No wonder parents are choosing to buy vegetables as snack
foods over potato chips.
According to Alberta Agriculture and Food’s new ‘Farm to Fork’ study, consumers of organic food are likely to have children and to be concerned about health.
Parents
and market gardeners, Eric and Ruby Chen of Peas on Earth
near St. Albert, are raising their children on vegetables grown straight
from the earth. “They know they are safe and good for them,”
says Ruby Chen.
Ruby and Eric Chen earn their living from the 65 acre vegetable production
operation and through direct marketing their produce - peas, spinach,
squash, zucchini, greens, corn, beets, carrots and amaranth, available
in the summer, which is actually an old world grain. “It’s
not just good to eat, but amaranth also looks beautiful cut in vases,”
says Ruby Chen about the vivid red plant that adorns the front of the
on farm retail store in the fall.
The Organic Crop Improvement Association certifies the farm as organic. No petro-chemical pesticides are used and the crops are rotated regularly. The Chens use green manure crops, grown as ground covers or plowed down, to build fertility and improve the soil. The Chens operate an on-farm store and a greenhouse in the summer.
Though
hard work, the Chens make it playful with their cheerful attitude. Eric
had to work quite hard to convince Ruby that marrying a farmer was a
good thing to do. “I was a city girl back then, I wasn’t
interested in farming,” says Ruby about her courtship twelve years
ago. Ultimately, Eric’s passion for growing good food, customers’
appreciation and Ruby’s newfound connection to the earth convinced
her to put her heart and soul together with Eric on Peas on Earth.
Even
chefs have to make the journey to the farmers market or the farm if
they want Peas on Earth products. Darcy Radies of the Blue Pear restaurant
in Edmonton says that he shops at Peas on Earth and can taste the organic
difference. “I like the opportunity to offer local, organic vegetables
to my clientele. I like that the Chens only pick what they need to pick,
so the produce is always fresh. The Chens take great care with their
products - from packaging to bundling, including the way that they group
and bunch the vegetables - it is all very organized,” says Radies.
Radies also says that it makes his busy food preparation schedule easier because he can order through e-mail and then pick up at the on-farm store or the various farmers’ markets where Peas on Earth produce is available.
Radies tries to integrate local ingredients into his dishes year round but says that fall is the best time of year to buy from local farmers. He is particularly fond of the Chens’ baby corn - the whole cob is edible - and their root vegetables such as beets and carrots.
Radies says that people need to think about vegetables differently. Carrots and flan are not two words usually seen together, but carrot flan is a new feature on Blue Pear’s menu. “There are so many possibilities with vegetables - try something new at a restaurant, this will give you ideas for cooking at home,” Chef Darcy Radies recommends.
Recipe for Carrot Flan
|
Ruby Chen’s top tips for buying and storing vegetables
When selecting vegetables at the market or the on farm store customers should:
-
Make use of your senses to pick the top quality vegetables.
-
Use your nose to smell the fresh scent of vegetables, your eyes to look for vibrant colour and your hands to feel the firm and fleshy texture. Do not squeeze too hard as this may damage the vegetables.
-
Buy and eat vegetables that are in season to ensure freshness as much as possible. However, with the long winters in Edmonton, we have to learn to live with some storage vegetables and vegetables shipped from different regions.
Storage of vegetables at home
-
For home storage, put your newly purchased vegetables into a cooler or refrigerator as soon as you get home. This will slow the deterioration process down. Each kind of vegetable has an individual optimum cold storage temperature, generally ranging between 0 and 10 degrees Celsius.
-
Store vegetables in perforated bags to prevent carbon dioxide build-up, increase the oxygen flow in the package and minimize humidity. For vegetables that release a lot of moisture, place a paper towel in the storage bags to absorb excessive moisture and prevent spoilage.
For
more information
Peas on Earth Farm Store
Check the website
for hours of operation and available items. Peas on Earth Vegetables
are available at Strathcona Farmers Market in Edmonton at 10310 83 Avenue,
Year round Saturdays 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Old Strathcona Farmers Market website
The Blue Pear Restaurant
The Blue Pear
is a boutique restaurant serving a globally inspired five course menu.
To guarantee quality and take advantage of seasonal items, the entire
menu changes monthly. Location: 10643 123 Street, Edmonton AB
For more information about organic markets and consumer
trends
Farm
to Fork: Organics in Alberta June 2007
Sources
Interviews Ruby Chen, Darcy Radies, Farm to Fork Study, above websites
Posted March 2008