Blue eggs and beets

Beets, multiple lettuces, basil, cilantro, kale, squash, dill, cabbage, kohlrabi, garlic, and green onions are in the share time around. Being away on vacation means it is a dear friend who is enjoying the bounty. I cannot help but daydream of uses and recipes for each item. Roasted beet and kale salad, hand-made pesto, coleslaw, and summer squash soup. Is it possible to have produce withdrawal symptoms?

While on this vacation, I visited a small farmer’s market. My favorite vendor was the woman selling various produce she had raised and some of which she had canned. Yet, it was the dozen eggs which provided excitement. Of various sizes and colors, the twelve eggs started conversations among three generations of family members. The white and brown are old hat, but the thirteen year old had never seen, much less did he know of, blue chicken eggs. In addition to blue, there was an egg so pale it appears yellow and one so large it would cause a jumbo egg to have size issues. In all, these dozen eggs at just $3 allowed us to have both nutrition, conversation, and the opportunity to learn more about food. Every dozen should be so arranged.

Large or small, farmer’s markets are not created equal. Some allow for the inclusion of vendors who have not grown or processed what they offer for sale. When I see a vendor at a farm market with clean produce, I wonder if it was purchased from a wholesale operation. It comes down to this: I like dirty produce. Not caked-in-mud dirty, but produce with a bit of dirt makes because I believe I am purchasing from the farmer who grew the produce. I want the farmer to get more than 15 or twenty cents for the work they have done.

Of course, my beliefs just might not be true.

Veggie Days

Mom is both happy and stressed to have all the fresh produce as she loves fresh fruits and veggies, but she is freaking out. Right now, all the produce is wrapped in white toweling and placed in a zipped plastic bag along with a blue-stripe towel (to help absorb the moisture).  She can’t see what is in the bag and this unnerves her. I tell her it is lettuce as I brought with me three types of lettuce! 

She declared Tuesday to be Vegetable Day. Breakfast was steamed spinach with a fried egg. I like this breakfast as it is quick, nutritious, tasty, and the clean up is easy. The key is to cook the egg, but not let the yolk get hard. The runny egg yolk helps add flavor to the steamed spinach. We used all the spinach and this makes mom happier. She is still stressed over the never-ending lettuce. 

For dinner we plan to finish the fake potato salad made with cauliflower, have a lettuce salad, some radishes (ugh!) and cook and eat the broccoli. We are definitely on a mission to eat our veggies. Fun does not enter the decisions. 

Later in the week we will focus on the Napa cabbage. I vote for coleslaw and given the family is coming over for a fish fry dinner, this is a perfect way to use the cabbage. Problem is, there is a lot of the cabbage, hope everyone is in the mood to try a new slaw.

Delayed eating

My second share consists of 2 heads of lettuce and a lettuce blend, spinach, radishes, Nappa cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, and garlic scapes. Did I miss something? This is all I can remember.  There was so much in the box and my excitement level was high with travel on my mind. I am traveling to see my family and will bring most, if not all, of this produce with me. I am worried about finding enough cooler space for the vegetables during the two-day travel period.
To prepare the items for storage and transportation items are wrapped in white cotton toweling and placed in plastic bags. The radishes, broccoli, and cauliflower have been placed in the only plastic container that will make the journey. Not all the bags could fit in the cooler and plans for a substitute cooler are made. (Purchasing a second cooler was out of the question.) Luckily, I came up with a solution and will place frozen bottles of water in the makeshift cooler on the first day of the journey. An ice block will go into the cooler. The second day of the journey would mean emptying the water from the containers and filling them with cubed ice purchased while on the road. This is more work than I had wanted.
Hours before the trip is to begin, plans must be changed due to pet illness. This is the third time the vacation is delayed due to the cat. I decide to get some groceries to use with the spinach and the lettuces. Dinner is steamed spinach with feta and walnuts and deviled eggs. This spinach dish is made from fresh or frozen spinach, is healthy, and quick. Salads will be on the menu for tomorrow.

The origin of my CSA journey

Tomorrow I get to pick up my second CSA share. This is the third year I have participated in a CSA and I encourage everyone to find the money to participate in such a program. My diet was boring and I was compelled to expand the variety of vegetables I was consuming, I wanted to support a small, local business, and I wanted organic produce in my diet. Turns out, finding the right CSA was relatively easy: search a database, locate a farmer; contact the farmer (and hope there is an available share) and send a check. My first CSA was an organic, pick your own farm. The result: fantastic fresh produce.  The second year brought bad news: the farmer would not be growing the next season. I have a new CSA and I love it.  

This year seems to have brought forth more questions about my CSA. The questions most typically focus on cost and what is in the share itself. The answer is: the cost is not high, but requires an upfront fee which might be steep for someone who has not saved the money. At $350 (a half share) for 5 months, the break down is $2.50 a day. Not bad for two people, and I argue it is not bad for one person as much of it is preserved and consumed in the fall and winter. A CSA is easily affordable when you tend your resources. Since I rarely purchase soda, chips, and cookies I can justify the costs. And when I look at the contents of my share, I can easily justify the cost.

Each week the produce varies and is influenced by the farmer’s seed choices and the weather conditions. In general, the earliest part of the season brings the leafy vegetables, maybe some berries. Vegetables such as corn, tomatoes, and melons arrive mid-season. Late season offerings may include eggplant, garlic, and chard. In the first couple of years, I would pick what I liked and left other choices on the vine.  

What these conversations did is to lead me to this question:  is it possible for a single person to take everything in the CSA share and not waste anything? Could I consume the food immediately, prepare it for freezing/canning; or prepare it for later use as a gift? Or is there just too much produce for one person? I decided it could be done and checked my canning supplies, purchased some items, and looked for recipes.

These postings will record my summer journey.