Summer Bounty

I just borrowed Lois's camera battery charger and rescued a few pictures that were trapped on my camera since June.

This picture was the first Stone Soup Farm delivery that included the flower share. L-R: cucumber, kale, Japanese eggplant, fennel, wild flowers, cilantro, onions, and sugar snap peas.



I also really enjoyed the few weeks we had fresh heirloom tomatoes and edamame pods. The tomatoes were so lovely and flavorful, and the edamame was nice after quickly boiling them and eating them with sea salt and fresh squeezed lime juice. Too bad I didn't have battery life to take those pics!

Cute CSA Veggies!

the cutest little eggplant!

the tiniest, roundest watermelon!

the most adorable ear of corn!

Carrot Surprise!

This funny-looking veggie landed in our CSA share bag this week :)

How's it going? Stone Soup Farm CSA

The Stone Soup Farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares have been going strong for over a month now. The early part of the season included lettuces, greens (collards/kale), beets, and herbs. Now that the weather has warmed, we've seen lots more cucumbers, summer squash, purple cabbage and kohlrabi.

I've been pretty pleased with the quality and amount of food that's been allotted to our half share (5-8 lbs/week vs a 10-15 lbs/week full share). The collards, cucumbers, and summer squash have been particularly hearty specimens. Organic and pesticide-free, I was worried that the veggies would be really buggy - but that's not been the case. I'm particularly eager to see okra and tomatoes in the coming weeks: I'm already saving a pinakbet recipe or sinigang recipe for them. I'm also eagerly awaiting to see our first ears of yummy corn!!!

My only battle has been with the lettuces --- these are real vegetables grown in real dirt. Real dirt that is dirty, sandy, and self-multiplying. No matter how much I wash the lettuce, there's always more sand to be found. I'm a visually-picky eater - so any signs of dirt shuts off my desire to eat lettuce that's not cellophane-wrapped. I hope it's only a minor issue I grow out of, but should expect my experience to be any different?

On an extremely positive note, the customer service and education from the Stone Soup Staff has been EXCELLENT. Each week CSA members receive an email with a list of items of the week, some interesting anecdote about the growing season or the goings-on at the farm, and (usually) a suggested recipe. I haven't used any of their recipes yet, but two examples include Coconut Chutney Hor d'ourves with Zucchini and Beet Brownies. Customer education pieces include walking us through the farm decision to pilot biodegradable plastic tarps for young veggie beds... Or to tell us of the painstaking care our farmers have taken to control the troublesome pests like the Colorado Potato Beetles (and larvae) by removing them BY HAND!

If you eat with your eyes, take a look at this gorgeous slideshow of some of the tastiest veggies around.

Quick! Go find a farm with a CSA program!

Folks a the office are starting to talk about their grand gardening plans for the Spring/Summer growing season. Some have backyards or deck gardens. Others are urban gardeners with plots in neighborhood community gardens. And for a hot minute, I, too, considered the adventure of urban gardening.

Ha! That would be a horrible idea for me.

Instead, I got my Google on and looked into local farm share programs. Community Supported Agriculture programs are pretty popular and nowadays farms will often deliver into the city and many no longer require that members put in work time. Some CSAs ask that you commit to a full or half share at the beginning of the season, $250-$500, and in return you receive between 5-15 lbs of produce weekly. Instead of equating your share to fixed amount of produce, other CSAs count your share as afixed percent-off at their farmer's market stands. These are all good things for the carless city-dweller that I am.

I'm splitting a half share with friends this year at Stone Soup Farm. I'm excited because it means I'll have access to organic produce at around $2/lb. That's definitely better than most of the deals at Whole Foods or anywhere in my neighborhood. I hope to report back in June with the first fruits of the season and share recipes.

www.localharvest.org is a neat site where you can find local CSAs, farms, markets, and even restaurants that support local farms.