Author Archive

Wheatgrass Juice with no Juicer

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

grass_and_blenderOne of the biggest investments when getting into wheatgrass is the juicer.  Quality wheetgrass juicers start at about $300.  That’s a pretty big investment for beginners.  While doing some searching, I found an interesting method for juicing wheatgrass with a common household blender.  We did an experiment with it here at RhibaFarms.

First we cut some grass in one inch increments and put it in the blender.  Next we added a cup of water to help with the blending process.  We blended in 10 second bursts, so the blender wouldn’t heat up too much and blended until it was mostly all liquid.  The next step can be done a few different ways, we placed a coffee filter over a container and poured a portion of the freshly blended juice in.  We let the juice strain out, and then squeezed the remaining out by hand.  You can also use a sieve or what most people use is a nut milk bag to strain the juice from the remaining fiber.

add_waterNow you have a cup of green juice and you observant readers will remember that this juice is mostly water.  The best way to drink wheatgrass juice is as pure juice.  So the next step was to cut more grass for the blender, then we added our freshly strained juice back into the blender.  The idea is to keep doing this until the whole flat is juiced, that way the juice is as pure as you can get it using the blender.  Pour yourself a shot and the remaining juice you don’t drink can be frozen and used through out the week.

In conclusion, this may not be the best way to juice wheatgrass but it is a great way for people to get into wheatgrass and will do until you decided to fully commit and spend the money on a juicer.  The best part is that it is completely free, assuming you already own a blender.  Try it for yourself and let us know how it works out.

blenddrink

Project Shinae

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

shinae_marketMeet Shinae, she is a big fan of our Broccoli shoots.  Unfortunately, the summer heat has made Broccoli growing very difficult and has been disappointing for Shinae when she comes to visit us on Saturdays at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market.   What we have decided to do for Shinae is grow her Broccoli shoots in our new hydroponics lab.  We will be using the hydroponics lab as our R&D growing area for new or difficult crops.  If you have any suggestions for things we should try growing, send them over to info@rhibafarms.com.   We will keep you updated on Project Shinae here on the blog.

 

hydro_tablehydro_veggies

Take a tour of RhibaFarms

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

greenhouseHave you ever wanted to check out a greenhouse?  Or maybe you enjoy our products so much that you want to see where it all comes from.  Regardless of your reasons, RhibaFarms has an open invitation to anyone who would like to take a tour of our greenhouse and learn about how we grow.  Teachers, bring your kids over to learn a little bit about plants and growing in Arizona.  Call Sue at 480-226-4638 to set up a time or send an email over to info@rhibafarms.com

hangingracks

Meet the RhibaFarms Team

Friday, May 8th, 2009

sue_nelson2Suzie Nelson is our sales representative.  She is in charge of taking your orders and making sure all your wheatgrass needs are taken care of.  Plus she spends her Saturdays out at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, selling and educating people about wheatgrass and shoots.  If you buy food from us, you most likely know Suzie.  If you have any questions or want to make orders, just shoot her an email at s.nelson@rhibafarms.com

Harold Lindsey(bottom picture, on the right) is one of our farmers.  He is the one in the greenhouse making sure all your food is growing and looking good.  With years of experience in growing all types of plants, Harold is a key component in the RhibaFarms machine.  While Harold is greatly experienced in traditional farming, he is also an expert in hydroponics and will be key in our upcoming hydro project.  Harold is also often found Saturday at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market, so if you have any growing questions feel free to come down and chat with him.

jose_and_harold

Jose Ibanez(left) also a farmer in the greenhouse is the father of RhibaFarms c0-owner Marlo Ibanez.  Jose is usually busy planting, watering, germinating seeds, and anything else you could think of when it comes to greenhouse growing.  He is too busy taking care of our produce to make it out to the markets, but all his hard work pays off when you taste our wheatgrass and shoots.

When should you buy organic

Monday, May 4th, 2009

Buying organic is becoming more and more of a priority for all of us.  Even with all the benefits of organic fruits and vegetables, price is still a big factor when food shopping for you and your family.  The biggest concern with organic vs. non-organic is the use of toxins and pesticides.  To help you decide when you should most definitely buy organic, use this list below compiled with research from The Environmental Working Group.

Produce with the most pesticidesproduce_1

  • Peaches
  • Apples
  • Bell Peppers
  • Celery
  • Nectarines
  • Strawberries
  • Cherries
  • Kale
  • Lettuce
  • Grapes
  • Carrots
  • Pears

Produce with the least pesticides

  • Onionsmore produce
  • Avocados
  • Sweet Corn
  • Pineapple
  • Mango
  • Asparagus
  • Sweet Peas
  • Kiwi
  • Cabbage
  • Eggplant
  • Papayas
  • Watermelon
  • Broccoli
  • Tomatoes
  • Sweet Potatoes

The labels stuck on most produce can further help you in selection of quality food.  Produce that has a 4 digit code is grown in the conventional method with pesticides.  If the produce has a 5 digit code starting with the number 9, that means it is organically grown.  Be careful, because a 5 digit code starting with the number 8 means that the produce has been genetically modified. 

Today’s produce market is so complex with all the choices between organic, non-organic, imported, and local.  We hope this information makes things a little easier on your next trip to the market.   If you happen to buy any RhibaFarms produce you can rest assured knowing that it is never grown with any pesticides or toxins.

Here comes the heat

Friday, May 1st, 2009

Greenhouse Shade CoverAs you may know RhibaFarms is located in Chandler Arizona, right in the Phoenix heat island.  Growing in the summer time requires jumping though some hurdles and experimenting. 

The good news is that with the shade screens on, our greenhouse is growing like a champ.  In addition to the greenhouse, we are doing some outside growing experiments with peppers, squash, tomatoes, green-beans, garbanzo, cucumber, watermelon and cantaloupe.  We built a couple of planter boxes out behind the greenhouse to grow these new crops.  Be sure to drop in on us at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market to see our new crops start showing up.

box-building

planters

tomatoes

 

Fun at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

We have been going to the Downtown Phoenix Public Market for about 8 weeks now and have had tremendous success with getting people on board with our shoots.  So many in fact that we sold out of most of our shoots last saturday!  We have also made many friends at the market; there are so many great growers/farmers there.  If you haven’t come out to the market yet, we strongly encourage you to come out.  However it’s not only about food at the market, check out these fun caricatures we had done by our friend Doug Atkins.

Marlo

Mark

40 Flats of Wheatgrass grown for Wholefoods

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Today has been an exciting one over here at RhibaFarms. Our first shipment of wheatgrass for Wholefoods was picked up this morning by our good friends at Stern produce. We are getting the greenhouse ready for the high production demands of Wholefoods and we are eager to get growing.

Ready for Wholefoods Off to Wholefoods

 

 

Here you can see one of our RhibaFarms pest control employees inspecting the boxes of wheatgrass.

rhibacom employee

Earth Day tips/links

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

240px-the_earth_seen_from_apollo_17

Today is Earth Day, and we here at RhibaFarms would like to pass on some very helpful links for being environmentally conscious. Of course eating locally grown food has less of a carbon foot print, bypassing the need to have hundreds of trucks, trains and planes delivering food from one end of the planet to the other. Make sure to support your local growers by shopping at Farmer’s Markets when you can.

Below are some links for great Earth Day tips and remember you should follow these tips everyday of the year and not just on Earth Day.

Water conservation
Green Travel Tips
7 ways to a greener computer
What to do this Earth Day
10 Earth Day Tips

and just for fun this from The Onion

Happy Earth Day from RhibaFarms

Recipe Contest!

Monday, April 20th, 2009

Submit your entries to our recipe contest and win two containers of shoots. We will be picking winners bi-weekly, so feel free to submit recipes every week. Recipes must use greens from Rhibafarms as ingredients, and you are encouraged to include ingredients from other local vendors found at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market. Send in your recipes to recipe@rhibafarms.com

Keep checking the blog to view the winning recipes.

 shoots_on_rocks21shoots_on_rocks1