CSA Week 2

Garlic scapes are in, as are the kohlrabi. Farmer Paul says he tries not to introduce 2 strange crops in one box, but I guess it's unavoidable sometimes.  That's eating in season.  Neither of these crops is new or strange for me this year.  I had experience with both last year.

Garlic scapes are the green tops of garlic bulbs which grow underground.  If left to their own devices, they bloom into little flowers similar to those of onions, and the garlic bulbs don't grow as large as we would like.  Fortunately, these garlic tops are edible and tasty. 

If you chop garlic scapes into small pieces and saute them in some olive oil, you have a mild garlic substitute.  Garlic scapes were one of the crops that went into the compost heap last summer.  This summer, I'm doing better.  I have no garlic in the house, so my only option is to use them as a substitute for mature garlic.  That said, there are a lot of scapes in my crisper.  Fortunately, they keep for awhile.  Two days after this box arrived, my family went on a 10-day vacation to Yellowstone.  I sent many of the vegetables to my mom, but I kept the kohlrabi, most of the scapes and the Chinese cabbage.  All of those would survive in the fridge until our return.

Finally!

On June 9th we received our first boxed share for the season from Fort Hill Farm.  There had been some debate over the winter as to whether or not we should be continuing to buy a share.   To be more specific, Rich was discouraging it.  As the subtitle of this blog implies, my family is somewhat lukewarm about vegetables, especially my darling husband.  I put my foot down and insisted that we continue our CSA for the next summer.

This is not to say that I didn't have my own doubts about the use of our money.  The share itself is a big chunk of cash up front.  Last year I was not terribly effective at using all of the produce we received, either.  It isn't easy to get a gigantic box of vegetables, some unfamiliar, some unpopular, and come up with appetizing uses of all of them before they turn bad or before the next shipment arrives.  Many times, I found myself sneaking slimy arugula or moldy zucchinis out to the compost pile.  This year, I resolved to do better.

I learned some valuable lessons in 2009.  For starters, greens always look like an awful lot when they are raw.  Once you cook them, there's barely anything there.  This year, if I have a bunch of escarole, kale, chard, whatever, I will wash and cook all of it right off the bat.  That should help a lot.  Secondly, I need to make a commitment to prepare a veggie lunch for myself on a daily basis.  That lunch should revolve around the less popular veggies.  Arugula is a "less popular" veg in my family.  Finally, never underestimate the power of hiding vegetables in popular foods.  Last year, the chocolate zucchini cake was a hit.  Broccoli raab can be successfully hidden in sausage and peppers. 

Here is a peek at my first box:

As you can see it is heavy in lettuces and greens.  The strawberries were delicious (and gone in minutes), and the radishes were sharp.  My favorite, aside from the strawberries, of course, was the baby bok choy.  I could eat that every day. 

I used the entire contents in a week, even though I was still working.  So far, so good!

CSA 2010

In less than a month, I expect to receive my first box of vegetables for the new season.  Last summer I was taken by surprise by the quantity of produce we had to deal with in the course of one week.  I didn't even have room in the fridge to store it all.  This summer, I'll be prepared.  I am already keeping minimal amounts of food in the fridge to avoid throwing food away and to make sufficient room for the coming influx.   

I am imagining the cool weather crops that will start us out: arugula and other greens, bok choy and snap peas...Can't wait!

Late Spring Holding Pattern

The days are getting long.  I can run very early before work or very late after work.  It has to be time for my vegetables, soon.

Next week my final CSA payment is due.  I am gettin weary of the average store-bought varieties.  Please, June, hurry up and get here!

Waiting for June

The payment is sent; I'm officially on the CSA list for 2010.  Another payment will be due to Fort Hill Farm in May (I think) for 400-something dollars. 

My husband gets a little frustrated with the cost.  I've tried to explain to him that while we may be spending more on vegetables than usual, we are also eating more vegetables than usual.  Once I've paid for something, I use it.  That's why I pre-pay my Pilates and yoga classes.  I'm way too cheap...I should say 'frugal'...to simply spend money and not use it.

There are good reasons for eating more vegetables, too.  I'm now 40.  My family has a terrible heart disease history.  If I don't exercise and watch my diet, I'm destined to wear the "zipper" of open heart surgery like so many of my relatives.  No way.  I'm terrified of anesthesia.  I've been frightened into a healthy lifestyle. 

The grocery store continues to disappoint.  I have a true aversion to buying things packaged in foam and plastic.  Everything, now, it seems, is packaged in airtight little tombs to preserve freshness over thousands of miles.

I can't wait for June when I can eat my real vegetables.

Midwinter Veggie Withdrawal

I received an e-mail from Fort Hill Farm today.  My next share payment is due.  I need to send roughly $250 to a farmer for vegetables that I won't get to eat until mid-June.  It sounds dubious, I suppose, to those who haven't bought into the idea of a CSA, but after the constant supply of beautiful, organic veggies of last summer contrasted with the supermarket lackluster selection that we've been surviving on lately, I'm ready to gamble again. 

Sweet Corn

One of the most labor-intensive crops to grow organically is corn.  Corn ear worms (those little worms that you occasionally find on the top of an ear) are preventable if you treat every single ear individually.  I recall going to our local organic farmers' market and finding a sign on the pile of corn that stated "Not Organic".  When I questioned the farmer, he explained that customers were so turned off by the worms (which are actually moth larvae) that he stopped growing it because no one would buy it.  He purchased his corn from a conventional farmer and sold it at his stand.

We have gotten lots of corn from Fort Hill Farm this year; a real treat for us.  The boys especially love sweet corn.  The first few ears were perfect...not a worm on them.  As the season continued, we found more critters crawling on our corn.  There was a little bit of revulsion from the troops, but my way of thinking is this:  Evidence of worms is proof that Monsanto and other bullying chemical giants did not have their tentacles on my dinner.

As for cooking corn, my favorite method is from the Joy of Cooking:  Bring a pot of salted water to a rapid boil.  Add the corn, put a tight fitting lid on top, and remove it from the heat.  Time for 5 minutes and serve.  If the corn is young and fresh, you can't beat it!