Enjoying fresh and local fruits and veggies

The weather is really warming in my area, to the point that we may get near the record high temperature (the record is 80 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday with a forecast for 77 degrees that day). If gardening is not your thing and you enjoy locally grown greens, please keep in mind Community-Supported Agriculture or CSAs. This is where you purchase a share of a farmer's future harvest now, and he or she provides you will a box of herbs, fruits and veggies for ten+ weeks. While many popular farms have filled all their orders for the season, there are always a few organic farmers looking for more people to join. And your health insurance may give you a bonus for healthy eating, decreasing the cost of your share. To locate a CSA near you, visit the Local Harvest Web site.

Since I grow my own produce and herbs, I am only looking to supplement what my garden provides. Therefore, I use the farmer's market to add to my diet. I can get fruits, veggies, herbs, meats, cheese and more at the small farmer's market close to my workplace. The main one in the area, one of the largest in the country, has an even wider selection and I know many people choose to do most of their grocery shopping each Saturday at the farmer's market. Whether you are looking for a little or a lot of locally grown food for you to choose from, a farmer's market is a great place to start. Talking with the farmers who grow the food or create the product is an engaging experience. If you are unfamiliar with the location of available farmer's markets, visit the Local Harvest Web site for more information.

Remember, if you cannot grow it yourself, a CSA share and farmer's markets are your next best bet for locally grown and sustainably produced food.

Visiting my CSA farm

While I have been trying to deal with my weekly influx of vegetables and herbs from my CSA share, I have also been wondering what the farm looks like, how big his operation is and how he got started farming organically. Seeing my farmer's plot was of special interest to me for two reasons: 1) to compare and contrast with the traditional farm where I grew up and 2) to get ideas for my own future gardening endeavors. One part of the CSA experience is touring the farm so I asked my farmer if I could see his place and he gladly set aside some time for me.

Farmer K. welcomed my curiosity and was happy to show me around his farm. The first time I met him, he completely disrupted my expectations. I thought I would meet a farmer, older than me. Turns out K. is younger than me, nearly a decade younger. Oddly, that made me more interested in finding out why he farms organically. Not many younger people are thinking "Hm, I want to farm" as a career option.

The farm was small and quaint. The some of the buildings were original to the farm, which was established in the late 1800s. K. was quite proud of his farm's history even if he was a new farmer. (This was his second year farming.) However, he had worked on other organic farms in the area so had some idea what was involved with organic farming and the issues (and promises) of certified organic produce. One thing I can say: organic or traditional farming, there are many regulations involved especially if the organic farmer wants to be certified!

Farmer K. farms about one acre, tucked along one side of his property perpendicular to the road with a large hoop house right next to the farmed land,and a second section next to and behind the hill barn and shed. This back part was previously used by cows and horses so it had some decent fertility. Other parts needed more compost to supplement the soil. I was amazed by all the plants he fit in the space and by all the trellising for the tomatoes. He ran twine between tall metal posts and then down to each tomato plant. I would rather have tomato cages seeing the length of string or twine needed, but less storage space required for the twine certainly. He was planning for his fall plantings with some space cleared out for winter squash as well as second planting of broccoli, lettuce and root vegetables. He was also growing many things I had never encountered like fennel and chocolate peppers.

Farmer K. was very friendly and did not mind all questions I asked. When asked why organic farming, he said he was raised with mindfulness of food and how it was grown, and enjoyed cooking. He was raised in a less traditional fashion, homeschooled, then attended college for breadth of classwork (he mentioned no degree but focused on biology) before starting a coop in the town I currently live, buying food in bulk for its members. He worked on a local organic farm before striking out on his own. Farmer K. also discussed his plans for the future, namely being certified organic for the area CSA organization, getting into the big (and well-attended) farmer's market in the state, expanding his operation to at least 10 more acres (with additional employees), and renovating the hill barn for a store to directly sell to customers. One thing you can say about my CSA farmer: he does not lack ambition.

I was glad to see a larger scale organic farm in action. Since I only deal with ~100 square feet, anything is larger to me. His farm was a quiet country retreat and a nice place to raise children. (He has a two-year-old daughter.) I have a better appreciation for the space in which my CSA produce is grown and the producer that brings it to me. With his energy, enthusiasm and drive, I am sure Farmer K. will be doing well for years. He is forming connections in his immediate community as well in the community of certified organic farmers. I appreciated the time he took to give me the tour as well as answering all my questions.

Will you visit your CSA farm?

Poor food choices and their consequences

Recently I have been feeling overwhelmed and consequently, have not been doing as much as I need to. Oh, I take care of the garden and begrudgingly mow the lawn, but the indoor chores tend to slide more often. Even with food coming in every week with my CSA box in addition to my supplies from the monthly grocery shopping trip, I have not been cooking or creating meals from scratch. My lunches are sandwiches or a frozen entree, my dinners are as simple as possible (and tend to dip into the chips and dip area more often than not). What are the consequences of this neglect of my more frugal moves?

Increased cost
Prepackaged foods whether a frozen lunch entree or deli sliced meat will add cost to each meal. While these options are less expensive than a lunch purchased at work, the cost is lower taking leftovers to to work for lunch than preparing a lunch every morning (and usually a bit quicker).

Wasted food
I am especially guilty of this regarding my CSA box. Much of the reason all of it does not end up in the compost bin is because I give it away. Many of the greens do not get me excited, radishes are not my thing and I am not enthusiastic about eating lettuce and spinach. Since I am not cooking as much, I tend not to experiment with some of the items I receive and they are relocated to make compost rather than feed me. This is not the best use of my locally grown produce.

In addition, I have also thawed meat that sat too long in the refrigerator before I remembered I was intending on making meatballs or some other dish. This is expensive and wasteful.

Poorer health
Despite my vow to eat healthier and exercise more, I have reverted to old habits rather than adopting new ones. Many prepackaged foods have more fat and sodium than recommended, and may lack many nutrients needed by the body. Decreasing my bottom line and adding to my rear does not help me get closer to my goals.

So, what can I do to rectify this? First, I need to organize my kitchen (messiness is always a barrier to cooking) and choose a recipe to make. With my time and energy constraints, finding something to cook can be a challenge, but trying something new is fun as well. I plan to look up recipes the night before and get out items to thaw if needed. With an organized kitchen and recipe in hand, I will cook the meal (hoping there are leftovers for one more meal, lunch or dinner the next day).

If there is a weekend looming, cooking can be made an even higher priority. I usually have more time available so cooking long-simmering sauces or dealing with multiple preparation steps are less onerous. Making a list is important so I will have to decide what to make and post the resulting list in a prominent location.

The hardest part: not stopping by the store for the craved chips or sweets. By making a vow to only eat something I have made and supplying myself with a variety of items to eat, I lessen temptation and improve both my diet and my financial bottom line. Making time for cooking will only help me keep within my spending plan rather than exceeding it.

Do you have similar food challenges?

I received my first CSA box

Spring is here with summer just around the corner. You know what that means--since I signed up for a CSA share, I received my first harvest of the season. I ended up with some red kale, two bags of spring green mixes for salad and stir frying and a bag of mixed herbs. What do I know about chives, anise hyssop or Mesclun salad mixes? Absolutely nothing.

I was raised on iceberg lettuce salads and dried herbs in a glass (now plastic) jar. It has only been recently I have branched out to romaine lettuce, but still like the crunch of iceberg in the mix. Frankly, this variety of salad greens and fresh herbs has me a bit intimidated. So how am I handling my first box of greens?

Red Russian kale is a bit beyond me at the moment--the scent reminds me of broccoli (not unexpected as they are relatives)--and I am not a fan of broccoli except cooked and smothered in cheese. One of my colleagues has two bunnies and they need more greens so the bunch of kale went home with her. One set of greens to be consumed by rabbits--check!

I have no idea how Mesclun versus stir fry salad mixes differ so I chose a bag and unloaded some for a quick salad. While there was quite a variety of greens in the bag (and one with an interesting flavor I had no clue about but liked), the mix had entirely too many stems for me to like eating them. Poor critique I know, but I am a farm girl. Many of the things I was trying to eat looked like weeds not food. Fresh salad plans abandoned, I washed off the dressing and put the remainder in the refrigerator.

My first success was reading various recipes for cooking greens and finding a couple ideas I liked. Therefore, I heated up some olive oil in a pan, chopped some white onions and cooked them in the olive oil, put in freshly washed (and stems removed) greens, sprinkled garlic powder on top and cooked for a minute or two. Served with a slice of warm, buttered bread and it worked well together. I knew greens cooked down easily, but was still surprised at the low volume of food I had at the end. This may be my recipe of choice to deal with all the salad greens. Of course, to consume the volume I have, I will need to have greens at least once a day. This may be a challenge, but as long as I can find new recipes to try, I will keep at it.

As for the chives and oregano, they may end up on some pizza. I still need to identify who is who (is it anise hyssop or oregano) and then plan accordingly. In the end, the herbs may prove more of a challenge than the salad mixes, but I can report back in a week. Lest my tale scare you, the CSA farm had some serving suggestions for oregano (pasta tossed with olive oil and fresh oregano), anise hyssop (use leaves for tea) and chives (add to cream cheese as a dip).

Still, I am not sure I will be looking forward to curly garden cress or radishes, but I may find new recipes to explore as I try various seasonal produce. If only the farm offered some asparagus...