CSA 2015 - Week 1

     Here we go again!  Maybe I'll make it past the middle of the season this year?  We'll see.  But don't hold your breath.  Brad also should probably take and post some pictures of the progress on the upstairs.  There's a slight possibility that I'm beginning to be hopeful that it might actually be finished before the boys go to college.  To date, the electrician has been in to wire the place, the insulation in the exterior walls has been completed, and the plumber doesn't need to come back until the final attachments are ready to go into the bathroom.  If I remember correctly, we're waiting to hear back from the insulation guy on the interior walls.  Then the sheetrock guys will be able to come in.  We also need the contractor to finish up the outside of the house - siding, doors, front porch, back deck.  So another busy construction summer awaits!  But that's ok.  It's progress!

     We've also challenged ourselves as a family to visit all of our state's state parks with walking/hiking trails.  It's a great way to get the boys out on a morning for some exercise and exploring.  There are no set agendas for the walks; no journals of wildlife, no counting birds, etc.  Just getting out and getting moving together.  Although, unofficially, I've also set us a goal of taking a family selfie at each place, too.  Best if there's a bench, but a clear path will do in a pinch.  :)

    So now, on to our CSA for the season.  There's been a slight change for this year; we pick up on Wednesday instead of Tuesday now.  Also, one of the farms that used to participate in the CSA is taking the season off, so the name has changed.  We're now with Blue Skys Farm instead of Four Friends Farm.  Our season started last week and we are so happy that it did.  This year, we've signed up for a single veggie share, a fruit share, and an egg share.  We'll get veggies and eggs each week for 20 weeks and fruit for ten weeks starting at week 11.  Our first email mentioned that there would be tours of the farm available, so M was VERY excited to get to the farm.  I had not realized before Wednesday that he enjoyed tours so much.  Brad met us half way so that we could all go over together.  We went to the same area as last year to pick up our share and bumped into some of Brad's photography friends.  While they were chatting, M kept asking about when we were going to get our tour.  The only person around was the farmer at the distribution table.  I tried to put him off, but he wasn't having any of it.  He had been told there'd be a tour, and he wanted that tour.  Of course, since no five-year-old has a discreet setting for their voice, the woman at the table overheard and inquired about whether we would like a tour.  I know that farms are busy places, so I said only if there was someone available.  I didn't want to pull anyone away from work just for the sake of our tour.  But she insisted that the lead farmer was itching to give tours, so we said we'd love one.  We learned some history of the land and buildings, got to see the greenhouses and the tractors.  I hadn't realized that there were different types of greenhouses, but evidently there are.  We saw the washroom (for the greens, not the bathroom as I had assumed before we walked in) which is housed in an old dairy barn.  The washroom section has just been redone in part to keep the barn swallows out.  We also got to go through the unconverted part of the barn and check out the barn swallows in action.  They build their nests on the sides of the beams that run across the barn.  The nests are made of a mud-like substance and are almost cone-shaped.  The boys loved watching the birds swoop in and out of the barn; we even got to see some baby birds in their nest!  We're so excited for this summer's CSA season!  Our farmers are great; they take time to listen to what their customers are looking for out of a CSA share and share their ideas with the customers as well.  They interact with the boys and encourage them to try out new vegetables.  M was excited to try the mint that Christina offered him.  He also got to try a borage flower.  It tastes a bit like cucumber.  M says it's "kind of yummy."  S is not quite as adventurous when it comes to trying things at the farm.  But he loved seeing the birds and smelling the fresh herbs.  Here are some photos of this week's share.  So far we've only eaten the snow peas.  I think salads with the lettuce are on deck for lunch today.  Maybe the turnips with dinner tonight.

Snow Peas, Hakurei Summer Turnip, Skyphos Butterhead Lettuce, Kale, Potted Rosemary

We chose the dinosaur kale!

Potted Rosemary

Snow Peas

Lettuce

Turnips

Eggs

Snow Peas, Hakurei Summer Turnip, Skyphos Butterhead Lettuce, Kale, Potted Rosemary

CSA 2014 - Week 10

If I'm not mistaken, this is the halfway mark for the season.  This was also the first fruit week of the year, much to the delight of the boys.  If you've ever spent a meal with my boys, you know that they will eat just about any fruit you put in front of them.  Most nights they demand fruit for dessert - if there's no ice cream available :)  The fruit comes from Hill Orchard, which is where we took the boys apple picking the first two times we went picking.  Last year we went to a different orchard that seemed much more commercialized, and just not as much fun.  We'll be returning to Hill this fall with the boys - you can't beat it.

This week's share included 3 pounds of peaches, 1 pound, six ounces of yellow plums, a pound of onions, two large scallions, a head of cabbage, a pint of cherry tomatoes, the most delicious-smelling bag of basil ever, a pound of green peppers, and a cantaloupe.

We are so lucky to be able to offer our boys such beautiful, nutritious, organic vegetables.  And to be able to bring them to the place where their food is grown so they can understand the work that goes into putting food in their bellies.  We are also very lucky that Brad has such a green thumb.  The boys love to "help" him work in the garden, especially harvesting - whether the veggies are ready or not.  Thankfully, both boys are already showing an interest in helping to cook, too, so they'll be ready when they need to face the kitchen of their own.  No dry noodles with a seasoning packet in a hot pot for my boys!

This week's veggies are headed for a couple of great dishes - well, I hope they'll be great.  The tomatoes and basil are headed, along with last week's kale, for a pasta dish.  The peppers and onions, along with two eggplants and some tomatoes Brad grew, are headed for a lentil dish.  The boys have already taken care of six of the plums.  We were instructed by the farmer to let the cantaloupe ripen for 2 or 3 days on the counter before we cut into it.  Not sure what we'll do with the cabbage.  Maybe a slaw?  Brad's really good at cole slaw.  We'll see.  

CSA 2014 - Week 9

An egg week!  We also got one pound of lemon cucumbers, a pound of tomatoes, a pound of squash, a bunch of kale, a bag of beans, a bag of pea tendrils, and a bag of carrots.  The carrots made it into a pot of chicken soup; the squash was grilled and served alongside burgers; and the cucumbers were served with hummus as part of lunch a few days.  The kale is excited to be set aside for a new pasta dish we're going to try this week.  The eggs usually find their way into many breakfasts.  I have been baking with them despite their variety of sizes and haven't had a problem yet.  The tomatoes have been part of many salads, snack plate dinners, and grilled cheese sandwiches.  The pea tendrils, well, I'm still hoping to wake up tomorrow really loving them and unable to resist them.

CSA 2014 - Week 8

Week 8 brought us one bunch of parsley, a bag of greens to saute (which I will admit I did not enjoy - way too bitter), a pound of wax beans (which I seem to recall I did not enjoy as a child, but loved when we had them with dinner), a pound of plum tomatoes, and a pound of potatoes.

CSA 2014 - Week 7

Eggs

Scallions 

 Week 7 was an egg week!  We also got 4.75 oz of basil, which might be headed for a loaf of pesto bread I recently found a recipe for.  There were 3 (1.5 lb) pickling cucumbers, which Brad plans to turn into pickles.  The boys chose the 4 (1.5 lb) yellow pattypan squash; I'm thinking I might grill them, or if I'm feeling fancy, I might stuff them.  The 14 oz bag of lettuce will, of course, be for salads.  The kale is destined for another batch of the kale, sausage, and white bean recipe I've mentioned before.  The scallions will be for a variety of different things - any time we find a use, really.  And the kohlrabi will be roasted and eaten as soon as possible to get it over and done with.  If you don't already know our history with kohlrabi, I'll have to remember to tell you some time.  Suffice it to say, we eat kohlrabi when we get it in our shares, but we never voluntarily seek it out.

Lettuce

 This week also brought us on an adventure in blueberry picking!  We took home 6 pounds.  So far, they've been snacks, cereal toppings, and part of a batch of blueberry crumb bars.  Next up, I'm thinking a lemon blueberry cake, maybe some muffins or a bread, and possibly some pancakes.  The boys had such a great time!  We can't wait to go back again!

Kohlrabi

Basil

Squash

Cucumbers

Kale

Week 7

CSA 2014 - Week 6

True to form, I have misplaced last week's list with weights.  However, I can share the pictures.

Week 6!

Pak Choi

Golden Beets

Carrots

Cucumbers 

Green Beans

We had the pak choi in a stirfry, the green beans steamed and served with fish, and the cucumbers in a salad.  I'm thinking I'll slice up the beets for the boys for dinner very soon.  They LOVED them last week.  In fact, I tolerate beets, but they're not my favorites, and the boys volunteered to eat most of mine the last time Brad made them!  We also still have some parsley left over, so I'm thinking those carrots are destined for a soup to be kept in the freezer to make a fast meal this winter.

Summer 2014 CSA - Week 5

Sorry this is so tardy.  Busy week!  This week we brought home 11 oz. of snap peas, 1.5 lb. of various squash, 1 lb. 3 oz. of cucumbers, 6 oz. Swiss chard, 1 lb. beets, and 1 dozen eggs.  We're doing a really good job of making sure to incorporate all of the vegetables into our menus for the week.  Since we get an email on Monday evening telling us what we're going to be picking up on Tuesday.  Then I use that information to plan my shopping list and take the boys with me to the market on Tuesday morning to get any supplementary items.

Week 5

Snap Peas

Assorted Squash

Eggs

Swiss Chard

Beets

Cucumbers