Fresh from the Farm

Last Wednesday morning we found a box of fruits and vegetables on our front porch. A few days earlier we had signed up with Farm Fresh To You, which is kind of a CSA (click here for a good definition of CSA). Unlike more common CSA programs where you buy a share in a single farm, this program sources food from several different farms. This gives us a little more variety and hopefully makes it so we never get 15 pounds of kale at a single time.  We can exclude certain things if we really don't ever want to get them. Also, we can choose to get deliveries once a week, twice a month, or once a month, and can choose what size of box we get.

We went for the Monster Mix box--their largest available. So, what's in season in northern California right now?

5 Rome apples

6 Gala apples

2 bunches of carrots

2 pomegranates

2 bunches of Crimson grapes

2 Eureka lemons

3 beets

1 acorn squash

1 bunch of Dino kale 

1 bunch of radishes

1 bunch of baby broccoli

1 bunch of spinach

8 sweet fingerling potatoes (They're tiny!)

3 artichokes

1 head of garlic

We used some of the kale on Wednesday night for a delicious bean, sausage, and kale soup that the whole family loves (even if they won't all eat the kale part of the soup). Thursday I used the carrots in a homemade chicken noodle soup. And on Friday night I made beet greens. I cooked them with onions, garlic, a little water & sugar, and then a splash of balsamic vinegar on top. Crispy bacon was mixed in at the end. They were really good! Maggie and Gunnar both liked them a lot. Adah did not. I think Holly thought they were okay. Damon and I also both liked them. I think that recipe would be good with any green leafy veggie.

I've been trying to eat more seasonally for several years now, so this is going to be a fun new experiment for us. We'll get vegetables that I've never bought, but am willing to try. Then, if we really don't like it we can exclude it for next time. Also, all of this gets delivered to our door! We still have to see if this will be a good economic route. It all depends on how long everything will last and whether or not I still need to supplement with a lot of produce from the grocery store.

I can't wait to see what comes in the next box! (And I might not be able to wait a whole month; I might need to order one sooner.)