CSA Summer 2014 - Week 3

Week 3

4 oz parsley

Brad picked up this week's share on his way home from the studio as the boys awoke from their naps rather late in the afternoon.  With last week's goodies, we enjoyed sauteed Chinese broccoli with salmon Tuesday night for dinner.  We used the kale in the only recipe I've found that we enjoy with kale besides soup.  It's kale with sausage and white beans - a one pot wonder, but with out any resemblance to a casserole.   We had lots of salads, and had the peas sauteed as a side for one of our other meals.  I think it might have been a swordfish night.  I did try to saute the pea tendrils from our first week, but have decided I like them much better raw on sandwiches or salads.  They seemed to get bitter when I cooked them, and the texture became an issue.  

1 dozen eggs

11 oz rainbow Swiss chard

     We are really looking forward to the rest of the summer with our new farm.  I have to admit that not having to go to the farmers market every Saturday morning is really nice.  We do plan to go this week, but not because we have to, because we want to.  I saw that our farm from last year had scapes in their shares this week, and I miss those like crazy, so we're going in search of scapes.  If you've never tried a CSA before, I really can't emphasize enough what a great experience it has been for us - our first year excluded.  Although, even the first farm counts as a learning experience.  If you don't know the story, our first year as members of a CSA was a bust because the farm ended up going belly up about half way through the summer.  The farmer was dealing with some personal issues that rendered him unable to fulfill his obligations to the members.  Surprisingly enough, he did offer memberships the following summer, but we opted to try a new farm that seemed more reliable.  

10 oz snap peas

12 oz head lettuce

10 oz pea tendrils

     We switched to Simmons Farm for the summers of 2011, 2012, and 2013 with great satisfaction.  I am so happy that some of my boys' first non-pureed foods were organic produce from a local family farm!  This year we decided to try a different farm due to changes in the way Simmons was organizing their program.  It was considerably more than we had budgeted and included either a dairy or meat share.  Much of their dairy is made with goat's milk, and I have to say, I dislike goat products enough that I probably wouldn't have gotten much out of that.  While I know that we should be willing to spend the price-per-pound for organic, local meats, to swallow that burden in one bill was a little to much.  Though, last year we did buy hotdogs from them, and Wow! you haven't lived till you've had a locally raised, organic hot dog!  So for this year, Four Friends Farm is meeting our CSA needs.  We're very happy with the program so far and looking forward to the rest of the summer!  As a mom, I especially appreciate that the woman, Liz, who is at the pick-up each week makes the effort to include the boys in the pick-up.  She tells them what each item is, and has made the effort to learn their names.  How wonderful that our boys see CSA pick-up as just part of what we do in this family during the summer.  They both look forward to heading to the farm each week, as do I!   

Week 3 

CSA Summer 2014 - Week 2

Week 2

 Ok!  Week 2 pick up was today!  Just the boys and me for this pick up.  It was really nice to get to see the veggies in the field when we got there.  The sprinklers were on and M wanted to know if "those [were] for boys."  This week we took home 8 oz. mixed lettuce, 10 oz. Chinese broccoli, 8 oz. snap peas, 14 oz. Russian white kale, 4 scallions, and a bunch of cilantro.

From last week's share, we had sauteed Swiss chard with grilled swordfish, dinner salads, lettuce and pea tendrils on sandwiches, cilantro with enchiladas, and assorted breakfast eggs.  We've still got some eggs, lettuce, and pea tendrils left over, so we'll probably saute the pea tendrils to serve as a side and have the lettuce in a couple more sandwiches.

Mixed Lettuce

Chinese Broccoli

Snow Peas

Russian White Kale

Scallions and Cilantro

Week 2

Summer 2014 CSA - Week 1

Today marked the first day of our new CSA.  We're with a new farm this year - Four Friends CSA.  We still love the farm we've used for the previous three summers, but a change in the format of their CSA necessitated a switch for this summer.  We'll be picking up at the farm every Tuesday this summer instead of heading to the farmer's market every Saturday.  Of course, we'll probably still head to the market, but it won't be a required Saturday commitment.  So after work this afternoon, the boys and I stopped to pick Brad up, and we all headed to Cranston to meet one of the farmers and pick up our first share of the season.  Liz was there to greet us when we entered the pick-up building; she identified our veggies and welcomed us to the season.  After popping back over to the website and seeing that she is the go-to person for ideas for using the vegetables, I do wish I had asked what to do with the pea tendrils.  I'll be sure to remember to ask about anything I'm unclear on in the future.  So, here's this week's share:

8 oz. pea tendrils, 7 oz. mixed baby lettuce, 11 oz. rainbow Swiss chard, 10 oz. head lettuce, 3 spring onions, 1 dozen eggs, 1 bunch cilantro