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Welcome back! We’ve started a new CSA for summer 2011. We took a break from the veggie train for 6 months, and I took a break from the blog. I didn’t really have the time or desire to create an all-round blog about our life–I want this site to stand alone as a document about our experiences as CSA newcomers. More of a magazine article than a full-blown biography.
Anyway, so after much debate, we joined a CSA this summer. We weren’t sure we wanted to commit the money, time, and effort it takes to be a CSA member; however, I felt it was important to try again. Being a member of a CSA really made us eat more veggies–local, organic veggies to boot. Also, my creative side somewhat enjoyed having to figure out what to concoct for supper each week using the supplied vegetables.
And they’re off……
Posted in We learned many lessons from our participation in a CSA:
* Radicchio is pronounced ra-dick-ee-o instead of ra-dish-ee-o.
* We don’t like beets.
* Sugar snap peas taste like candy.
* Washing, storing, preserving, and preparing fresh vegetables can be a lot of work.
* Fresh corn on the cob and fresh tomatoes are amazingly awesome.
* Greens come in a variety of types and flavors: some we like, some we could live without.
* Homemade salsa is a great way to use up a ton of tomatoes.
* Purple hull green beans turn green when you boil them.
* You can shred and freeze zucchini.
* Okra tastes great raw, but don’t try to steam it….it creates explosive slimy green goo!
* Zucchini cake is one way to get your children to ingest zucchini, but the amount of chocolate in it makes it ineligible to be considered a healthy foods.
* Don’t judge a vegetable by its looks.
* To really truly grow your own food and eat seasonally would be a lot of work.
* You can use a garment bag to spin lettuce in your washing machine to dry it; however, be careful if said washing machine is dripping fabric softener or your greens will smell “linen fresh.”
* You can lead your children to vegetables, but you can make them like them.
* Belonging to a CSA is a great adventure!
Vegetables can cause messes:
Thanks to our CSA, we tried these vegetables we had never eaten before:
* patty pan squash
* kale
* endive
* radicchio
* mustard greens
* beets
* sugar snap peas
* Swiss chard and rainbow chard
* fresh okra–when I first saw it, I had no idea what it was. I had only ever seen it fried!
Thanks to the CSA, we tried new types of familiar old vegetables:
* purple hull green beans
* egg tomatoes (which are a pink grape tomato–very yummy)
* yellow salad tomatoes
* lemon cucumbers (which are ugly little balls, but they taste great)
* blond cucumbers
* buttercrunch lettuce
* freckle lettuce
* ball carrots (little balls with plenty of flavor)
We used our vegetables to make many wonderful new recipes:
* chard pie
* white chard pizza
* homemade salsa
* endive or radicchio pasta bake
* ramen noodle salad
* zucchini cake
At first, we couldn’t decide whether these were a tomato, a cucumber, or a squash. Turns out, they are called “lemon cucumbers.”
I made a lot of great things this summer with our bags of veggies.
Chard Pie:
White Chard Pizza:
Veggie Wraps:
And here’s what my husband made with our veggies:
Very creative, Russell!
We started our CSA mission with the intention to become healthier, and as summer wanes away, I must confess to falling off the wagon. I must confess to giving some greens to a friend, instead of eating them. I must confess to letting some greens wither up and land in the trash can. So, what happened? As usual, Life-with-a-capital-L took over.
We started off the summer with a fairly calm routine. It included meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking. Lately, though, we’ve been busier and cooking at home less and eating out more. Try as I might, I just can’t force myself to order a salad instead of an entree at a restaurant. That would be like, well….what would that be like? That would be like going to Paris and not visiting the Eiffel Tower. That would be like getting a pedicure and then wearing only tennis shoes. That would be like reading a whole book, other than the last chapter. That would be unimaginable in my book. So, when I eat out, I do not eat well. I engage in the pleasure of enjoying the variety of food that was cooked. By Someone Else! How I love to have food cooked by someone else! No mess, no dishes. *Sigh*
Back to the veggies, so we’ve been lazy with our veggies lately, but we have a game plan for healthier eating after our upcoming vacation. We’ll do it. We must.
I don’t like heat or sun. I blame it on being a freckled pale person. We must hate the sun as a form of natural defense. So, I was a little sad to see our mid-June weather already in the 90s as we headed to the CSA farm for one of our work days. Most CSAs have members do work days to contribute to the farming. If you are completely unable to, you can pay an extra fee to avoid the labor. Despite the hot day, we looked forward to doing our work day to learn more about the food we were eating.
The day started with picking root vegetables. My oldest son, who had accompanied my husband, enjoyed helping with this part. They pulled beets and carrots. The carrots were small orange balls, appropriately called “ball carrots.” Upon testing them, we found no difference in the taste. They were delicious!
Later in the day, I arrived and helped cut some greens. We picked arugula and endive. I keep getting endive and radicchio confused, but I think I’m learning. After the picking was done, we helped wash veggies. THIS was the job to have on the humid summer day. The CSA had a four-vat commercial sink set up, and we dunked the greens several times. Then, we placed them in mesh bags to go for a spin in the dryer. On my must-have list right now: a salad spinner or a mesh bag. You can spin the moisture off of the greens to help them keep longer.
At the end of our shift, we bagged the veggies for the rest of the members and received our weekly share. Big excitement this week: carrots and new potatoes!
Enjoy these pictures of the farm. It is a beautiful place, with hills overlooking the Finley River valley. The farm isn’t very big, which makes you appreciate how much food you could grow on an acre or two…not that we are getting any ideas. We have a couple of acres that would be perfect for a huge garden, but I have a known history of not being able to keep anything alive (I call this my “black thumb” condition) and I remind you, the last time we had a garden, we even killed the supposedly ‘unkillable’ summer squash. We appreciate that the CSA farmers have the knowledge and skills to turn their plot of land into food for so many families!
Enjoy these pictures:
Confessional note: No, my son did not act like Farmer Brown all day. He did get tired and hot pretty quickly and retreated to the porch to play Pokemon on his DS. That being said, I think it was still important for him to be there and for him to get an idea that yes, food does grow out of the ground…it doesn’t just arrive on store shelves out of nowhere.
After eating a rotation of spruced-up salads, this week we enjoyed regular old salad. In our CSA delivery, we had some mixed spring greens with very mild flavors, carrots, green onions, and radishes. I add a farmers market tomato. To top it, we whipped up my dad’s special recipe for ranch dressing. If you want your ranch dressing at home to taste like restaurant ranch dressing, you need to alter the directions of the Hidden Valley Ranch packet. Here’s the secret recipe:
1 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
packet of Hidden Valley Ranch mix
Whip and chill! It’s delicious, I promise. However, I can’t promise that it’s good for you. Just look at those ingredients!