CSA - Week... Err.... I don't remember?

I think I skipped a week in there somewhere but I'm back!  This is a small sampling of this past Friday's take.  We got a few more apples than a share would provide (ok, a lot more), because he asked if we could give them away to others.  Missing from the picture are the bread, the tomatoes, the green peppers, and the cucumbers are mixed in with the squash and zucchini.

The cool little red balls above the shelf with the peaches, eggs, and stuff are plums.  Tiny little plums.  But man, they are TASTY.  I've never seen one that small.  I think they're Shaun's favorite fruit, so they're almost gone already. Perfect little snacks.

And no, my fridge is rarely that clean and neat.  Mmmm, nesting. 

CSA Haul

I'm so very behind on these and since Shaun's going in tomorrow for our weekly portion, I figured I should catch up and post last week's haul, even if it's slightly cheating.  (You'll see why in a minute). 

For the record, I'm LOVING this CSA stuff.  This is our first year and we've totally hit on an amazing farm.   So, for my local friends, check out Breezy Willow Farm for next year.  Totally worth it. 

Anyway, here's our loot:

OK, so quick disclaimer on why this is cheating a bit.  I had set all the produce from the CSA on our corner counter which happens to be where the other produce is stored, so not all of this is CSA stuff... the watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe and spaghetti squash are grocery store purchases.  The taters are from the previous week.

This week we had tomatoes, green beans, spinach, mushrooms, beets, funny shaped squash, zucchini, red leaf lettuce, a cucumber, blueberries, eggs, and cheese rolls, (which were so unbelievably delicious I couldn't stand it).

It's like my birthday presents are coming in the form of food every Friday.  Love. It.  :)

CSA - Week 3

I've got a ton of fun things to post this week!  (And I WILL). But for today, I'll give you the weekly status update on our CSA yields:

Red leaf lettuce, blueberries, summer squash, eggs, a gorgeous head of some sort of lettuce that was almost too pretty to eat, mushrooms, red potatoes, beets, peas, green beans, bread (not pictured) and that thing on the bottom left, which is felted soap.  (We actually bought the soap). 

I love the colors this week.  We're planning to make some pink mashed potatoes for our oldest using some of the potatoes and a few beets.  I think she'll be tickled... well, pink.  Hehe.  We've all been enjoying raw peas from the pod.  Bean loves to shell them and eat them, and of course, C wants to eat everything Bean does, so it works out quite nicely.  Shaun's already made some green beans cooked with carrots, garlic, salt, and pepper.  I ate a bowl the size of my head. 

But the day this stuff came home?  I pulled out this gorgeous head of some sort of lettuce that was possibly the prettiest vegetable I'd ever seen.  I tried to capture it on camera but couldn't quite get the lighting right.  And I got really hungry.  Like I said, it was almost too pretty to eat.  Almost.

I put the entire head in a bowl with mushrooms, tomatoes, and blueberries and topped it with a honey mustard dressing.  It was delicious. (As if I expected anything else :)

I Didn't Get Lost, I'm Just Eating and Organizing (a.k.a. CSA - Week 2)

There's a lot going on here, most of which I'll post about later.

Anyway, for now, I'll give the rundown of our second week of CSA goodies! This week's theme was green, lots of green. Apparently, I liked the theme and "posed" the veggies and such on a green towel.

We have russian kale, peas, green beans, asparagus, rolls, a loaf of multi grain bread, spinach, blueberries, strawberry cream cheese (OH MY WORD THE DELICIOUS), green onions, and some kind of lettuce that I forget the name of, but that tastes wonderful. 

I did learn that I hallucinated a bit last week.  This farm, (as is the case with most MD farms), is not totally organic.  Most farms around here, (if not all), would have little to no yield without some form of pest control.  This isn't to say that everything is treated.  Our particular farm treats at most twice a year.  Being on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, more than that results in heavy fines, so they tread a fine line.  In any case, it makes me sad as that's still something that's important to me, but I'm happy that we're getting REALLY fresh local produce, so that makes up for it.  And knowing that the farmer is doing his very best to do the very least in treating his crops is good to know.  Anyway, sorry if I mislead anyone.

Anyway, we're still thrilled to bits at the harvest and Shaun's enjoying the company in his work share group. 

I'm loving watching my daughter try new things as she gets excited about Daddy's "harvest" when he comes home on Fridays.  She can shell peas better than I can.  (Think I can get her to do the rest?)

Community Supported Agriculture = WIN

This year we decided to join a CSA, or a community supported agriculture group.  These are basically farm shares where you pay and get a weekly box of local produce grown on your selected farm or on farms nearby, (many farms work with each other to give their CSA members a greater variety).  We looked through a few online before finding the one we settled on and then Shaun noticed that they also offered work shares.  Every Friday, Shaun goes for 4 hours or so and works at the farm and in exchange, our share is free.

Here's a sampling of our first week's loot:

 

(The picture is horrendous, I know)

We got spinach, broccoli, radishes, green onions, asparagus, butter leaf lettuce, strawberries, mushrooms, potatoes, a small sample of cream cheese (not pictured), a dozen cage free farm fresh eggs (not pictured), and two loaves of bread (also not pictured) .  Shaun bought the small container of local honey on the bottom left.  

They said we'd get enough to feed a family of four for a week.  I'll say!  All this would have run us about 30 bucks if we were to be paying for a share.  

And another bonus?  All organic.  You couldn't spend $30 at the grocery store and get all this organically, no way. 

They also offer cut flowers at a discount, free herb trimmings, and free ice cream for the munchkins if we visit the farm. 

This is our first CSA, so I'm not really sure how it compares to other local farms in quantity or price, but we're impressed.

Anyway, I'll probably post week to week updates about what they offer to give those considering this for next summer, (or those who can find them this summer with openings!), a taste of what to expect!

And for those of you nearby, keep in mind that we have our monstrous veggie garden which will hopefully bear some considerable fruit this season...  so give us a call, we'll share.