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In megillas Rus (2:15-16) we read

וַיְצַו בֹּעַז אֶת-נְעָרָיו לֵאמֹר, גַּם בֵּין הָעֳמָרִים תְּלַקֵּט--וְלֹא תַכְלִימוּהָ.‏
וְגַם שֹׁל-תָּשֹׁלּוּ לָהּ, מִן-הַצְּבָתִים; וַעֲזַבְתֶּם וְלִקְּטָה, וְלֹא תִגְעֲרוּ-בָהּ.‏

However the mishna in peah 5:6 (5:5 in some editions) dictates that a field owner not show favoritism to the poor who come to collect. How then was Boaz allowed to do this?

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Favortism is not allowed to be shown regarding collecting from Peah. However as the Posuk indicates Boaz was allowing her to collect even from his own personal stuff גַּם בֵּין הָעֳמָרִים תְּלַקֵּט which there it belonged to Boaz and he is allowed to do whatever he wants.

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can you provide a source that she was picking from produce that was not set aside for the poor? This seems difficult to understand, if he wanted to give her a gift why not simply give it to her? – nikmasi Nov 28 '12 at 14:42
@nikmasi, a source that it's not from the poor's produce is the Meshech Chochma, but I think it's the plain reading of the pasuk also. (+1 on the answer.) – msh210♦ Nov 28 '12 at 14:46
@msh210: Thanks for the Meshech Chochma. However as I put in my answer, it is clearly indicated in the Posuk. – Gershon Gold Nov 28 '12 at 14:49

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