CSA Week 6: Corn and Watermelon!

1 watermelon
1 canteloupe
20 ears corn
9 pickling size cukes
3.5# wax and green beans
2 green peppers
1 eggplant
1 cabbage
6 onions
8 sm carrots
2 zuchini
1 yellow squash
1 Q-ball squash
1 broccoli
a heapin mess of taters

CSA Week 5: oops I missed last week

2.5 # potatoes - banana fingerlings
1 head broc
1 head cauliflour
1 head romain lettuce
2 cukes, 1 zuch
6 yellow squash
1 Qball squash
6 turnips
6 red onions
2 garlic
1 purple bell pepper
1 # green beans

Oops I missed last week, I was frantically packing for a camping trip to Mesa Verde!

CSA produce week 4: first of the cukes and beans

this weeks haul:
3.5 lbs red new potatoes
1 cabbage
1 head romaine lettuce
5 zuch
1 yellow squash
1 cucumber (first this season)
6 sweet spanish onions
6 chioggia beets
1 q-ball squash
3/4 lbs green beans (first this season!)
2 garlic

CSA week 3: Return of the Squash

3 lbs yukon gold potatoes
2 white kohlrabi
6 zucc
1 yellow straight neck squash
1 q-ball squash
1 sm broc
6 walla walla green onions
2 garlic
6 beets
6 baby carrots

1 head lettuce (not in pic)

CSA Week 2: recap

We didn't get through all of the different greens (turnip greens, onion greens) but we finished off the main veggies including all of the turnips, which where small and tender.

There was a lot of stir frying, which has always been one of my favorites, but perhaps we will need to branch out into a few more cooking styles as the summer drifts on. I imagine once the tomatoes start flowing we will move on to other styles of preparing veggies: more olive oil, less tamari.

Cutting Out the Middlemen, Shoppers Buy Slices of Farms

here's a NYT article on the CSA movements

here are some quotes from the article:

Some shareholders said they found the arrangement a bargain compared to grocery shopping, while others considered it a worthwhile indulgence. Most agreed that the urge to buy and spend locally — to avoid the costs and environmental degradation that come with shipping and storage — was behind the decision to join.

..

The downside for people who are used to grocery shopping comes when they want fresh blueberries in January or, as was the case at Erehwon last week, the tomato plants needed more time in the ground because of a cold spring.

“We eat with the seasons, and there’s no guarantee that Mother Nature will cooperate,” Ms. Propst said. “That’s all part of the deal.”

CSA week 2: holy turnips

Whoa there, week 2 is here already! This week's produce:
1 head lettuce
6 red onions with tops
6 turnips with greens
1 sm broc
1 large fennel
2 garlic
bag of snow peas
round zuchini (Q-Ball)
2 lbs red new potatoes

During the CSA season Tuesday becomes a day of excitement and shame. Excitement (like Christmas!) for the next week's vegetables, and shame for what has to go into the compost bin this week. (Well it all gets upcycled into happy compost for my home garden. This just in: Bonnie assures me the Tuesday Day of Shame is a thing of the past, this year we are going to cook and eat everything! Stay Tuned...)

We still have one Kohlrabi left to make from last weeks delivery, not bad for a brand new, unfamiliar vegetable. Tonight, we made stir fry and the Kohlrabi turned out perfect: sweet and earthy and a wee bit toothy. I've decided I will try growing that next year in my own garden.

This weeks challenge: 7 turnips! I like turnips, but 7? Stayed tuned for which turnip recipes work out best.

Purslane: Garden Foe or Good Food?

Okay, so my garden is choked at the moment with the "weed" known as purslane, so I've decided its time to stop fighting this beast and start eating it instead. In his book In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan talks about how wild greens like purslane are an important part of many traditional cuisines, particularly in Italy.

This Wash Post article extolls the virtues of Purslane:

Their role in nature is not to torment you but to cover disturbed ground, to lay claim to any patch laid newly bare and thereby prevent it from blowing or washing away. In the process they provide food and liquid to any creature smart enough to take a bite.

Thank you purslane! I promise not to cuss at you anymore. Need more convincing?

The plant is rich in vitamin E, vitamin C and beta carotene, and quite high in protein. Most noteworthy of all, it is considered a better source of essential omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy plant. These are compounds the body cannot make itself, which are needed to complement the omega-6 fatty acids we get from grains and grain-fed meat.

As with everything else unfamiliar, try it stir fried. Or in a salad.
Here's one more good article on purslane