CSA - Week 2

Its amazing what a difference a week can make in the world of farming and fresh produce. Our weekly share this week was completely different from last week and we got lots of great stuff. The only similarities were that we got another 2 heads of heirloom lettuce, plus some lavender, fennel, arugula, fava beans and onions. Whoo hoo!! I also picked up a dozen fresh eggs from the farms free range chickens.

There should hopefully be some great recipes with all of this produce, so look out next week for a risotto, a frittata, a terrine and some great salads :)

My First CSA Box!!

Its exciting to see a lot of food bloggers joining up for these great programs and blogging about the produce they get and what they do with it!

I am doubly excited today because I finally got my first box from Even' Star Organic Farm. I have been looking forward to this day for about 2 months now and was not disappointed.

This weeks share consists mainly of leafy greens, which the farm has said are not standard fare for the rest of the summer, so we need to enjoy them whilst they last. Included in our share was some lovely leeks, a bag of curly Kale, 2 different types of heirloom lettuce, some English sugar peas, 2 small baby turnips, a bag of herbs containing mint, parsley and cilantro flowers and a type of Italian cooking green called trasamiento rapa. Phew! That's a lot of greens, so we will be eating healthy this week :)

One of the reasons I wanted to join up for this CSA was try and eat more seasonally and to try new things. So this week will be the first ever time I have Kale (not something that is popular in Australia....not sure if you can even get it there) and rapa, which I have never even heard of. great! I am off to rummage through my recipe books......

Only 2 Weeks Until My First CSA Box!!

I am sure some of you are asking "What the heck is a CSA?". Well, it stands for Community Supported Agriculture and is a wonderful way to help out your local farmers and receive wonderful fresh produce at the same time.

I am so excited about this and I have been counting down the days until June 7th, when I receive my first box. I never really knew these programs existed until earlier this year when I read an article in Cooking Light about what they were and how they worked. Basically, a farm (or sometimes groups of farms) will create "shares" in their produce and sell them to the community. You buy in to one of the shares (usually about $25-30 a week for the period of the share) and this way, the farmer has guaranteed income for the period of the share, usually one season. The farm I have joined has a summer and a winter season, although most farms will generally only do the summer shares....just depends on the farm and what they produce. There is some risk to the consumer, in that if there are harsh conditions or the crop is not great, be it through drought, hurricane, frost, whatever, then you may not get as much produce than if the weather is perfect and everything goes to plan. This definitely gives the farmer some piece of mind and ensures that they get some money for the season, no matter how poorly their crop yield is. Given that I live in the relatively mild Mid-Atlantic region, where severe weather extremes are not all that common, I think the risk for us is fairly minimal.

The benefit to the consumer of course, is that you get fresh, usually organic produce direct from the farm with no middle man and no freezing etc. Most of my grocery bill goes towards produce, so for me, this was a no brainer. It would also give me a chance to cook with some fruits and vegetables that I may not be familiar with, as I don't have a say in what I get. I know the farm I have signed up with grows okra and this is not something I have ever cooked. So I am looking forward to trying some new things.

Also, I want to try and cook with more seasonal produce that is at its best and freshest, rather than using fruits and vegetables that are available at the supermarkets year round and taste terrible. There is nothing better than freshly picked, vine/tree ripened produce that has never been frozen. Most produce at the supermarkets is grown for aesthetic appeal and lacks any kind of flavor. I am looking forward to receiving fresh heirloom tomatoes, greens, herbs, flowers and vegetables.

If you want to find out if there is a CSA near you, just go to the Local Harvest website and search using your zip code. It is a wonderful site and couldn't be easier to use. I will definitely be posting about the shares I receive from Even Star farm in Southern Maryland, but for now I have posted a picture of some of my culinary herbs that I planted this year and some that require planting this weekend.