Week 3: An Inside Look

June 24, 2010

Well, I thought you guys might like to see what it's actually like to go and pick up my CSA basket. I'll post some pictures of the actual fields next week. I tried to snap a few today, but it started pouring like nuts out there. I was super grateful to be the greedy consumer and not the hardworking farmer.

So, I pretty much drive through the middle of no where--for real, zero bars on the cell phone for like fifteen minutes--I take a right onto Indiana Avenue, and a left into the farm. I drive down a charming little dirty road, and try like hell not the run over a duck when I park in front of this building, the CSA house:

Over to the right, there's this cutie little barn where some sheep live. I tried to lure Barbara the Icelandic out of the barn with my good looks, but she wasn't having it:

So you walk up into the CSA house, and this is what you see:

There's no one there to take your money or to make sure that you don't perhaps just possibly sort of help yourself to an extra bok choy from the crate there on the ground. Seriously, who would do that? Who would steal from such a happy, earthy, love your mother kind of place? I sure wouldn't.

Dear Denis and Michele,

I took a bok choy from that box--it was just a little one. I wasn't sure if it was an extra, but I really didn't care. I love bok choy so much and I guess I have a stealing problem that I didn't know about until today. If you let me get away with this, I plan to up my game and swipe a big bok choy from Hannaford tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

Amy

And these are the mysterious garlic scapes: 

James thinks they're antlers. I think he's gifted.

Yup. Still gifted.

I thought garlic scapes would be like a green onion with a garlicy flavor. I was wrong. They're solid, not hollow. They're curly, not straight. The have a white bulby thing in the middle, not the bottom. A much different animal to tame.

Here's a picture of the haul once we wrangle 'er up and got 'er home:

2 bunches of green onions

2 humungazoid bags of peas

2 heads of lettuce

2 bags of broccoli

2 bunches of red turnips

2 bunches of white turnips

2 heads of napa cabbage

2 bok choy

2 bunches of garlic scapes

2 bunches of swiss chard

...and perhaps some maybe stolen bok choy and romaine (really, so sorry)

Here's a close up of the garlic scapes:

And here's a picture of dinner--Ravioli with Garlic Scape and Swiss Chard Pesto:

I mixed and matched a few different recipes to come up with this pesto, but basically it's made of garlic scapes, swiss chard, olive oil, parmesan cheese, toasted almonds, salt, and pepper. And basically, it's obscenely good.

Here's a batch of the pesto from another angle: