The Season Opener

June 2, 2011

One week from today I'll have my first CSA pick-up day of the season! I swear I can almost feel the Bok Choy loving on my large intestine already!

In the mean time, I have some pictures from the season opener pot luck to share with you. Let me just start by saying that generally speaking, I abhor pot luck dinners. I mean seriously, how am I supposed to know if there's cat food in the lasagna? How do I know you didn't urinate in the frosting for that lemon cake over there?

Pot lucks usually make me tremble. But not the CSA pot lucks. Everyone seems so happy, and hippy, and loving, and not inclined to put little blobs of spittle in their chili.

I brought the stuff in the red bowl. It was whole grain pasta (because I was trying to fit in), with leftover CSA garlic scape pesto from last season (freezes well), and kielbasa (factory farmed....sorry CSA friends):

Here's another angle:

Here's Michele, the Long Meadow farmer extraordinaire, with Dr. Pigeon on the left. He's a local chiropractor, but not the local chiropractor I have intimate relations with. That this guy:

Here's a picture of the CSAers being all peaceful and lovely. Look at the cooler down there in the corner, isn't that so vintage-cute?

And here's James and Maggie in the inside green house, where they grow...errrr...I have no idea what they're growing. That's why I don't have a garden:

Maggie'll HATE the CSA this year. She completely despises anything that's of the earth.

One week and counting.....

Week 6: Dirty Girls

July 17, 2010

I don't know about you, but I think this is a fantastic view of Long Meadow Farm. Makes me want to run around naked. But I'll he honest here, a lot of scenarios have that effect on me:

Down in the front of the picture, you can see part of the pick-your-own section of the farm. There's basil, cilantro, mint, all kind of medicinal herbs that I'm 100% clueless about, and some flowers, too. I don't think the pick-your-own section is technically open yet, but technically speaking, I'm really bad at following rules. The basil's fantastic.

Here's a shot of the beautiful ladies who toil in the field to provide my family with a continuous supply of kale:

Left to right we have Caitlin, Anna, Maggie (who pooped on Anna's shirt three seconds after I took this picture), Betsey, and Michele.

Now I know they appear to be a little rough around the edges, but I'm pretty sure that if you hosed 'em down or put 'em through an electric car wash, any one of them would be completely suitable to bring to a homecoming dance.

These are Caitlin's feet:

And from everything I could tell, those mason jars are Caitlin's water bottles. C'mon now, how au natural is that?

When we got to the farm on Thursday night, Anna, Caitlin, and Betsey were getting ready to watch a movie (probably something foreign...or independent...probably not featuring Will Ferrell), and scrambling around getting their snacks ready.

Now me? When I get ready to watch a movie, I usually run down the street to Cumby's and come back with Twizzlers, some Gatorade and a bag of those Andy Capp Hot Fries. Don't judge--it's an ugly habit.

But these girls are cut from a whole different mold. Anna grabbed two little cabbages and was like, "I need to make a stir-fry before we start the movie."

And Caitlin was all, "Wait for me!!!! I just need to whip up some quick granola, it only takes a sec!"

I looked at James and said, "Let's go to Dairy Queen for dinner."

Anyhoo.

As usual, this week's haul didn't even come close to disappointing:

Before I snapped this picture, I'd already used a zucchini and and a yellow squash to make some lunch:

It's a mish-mash of squash, zucchini, frozen corn, and black beans. It's topped with salsa made from CSA green onions, garlic, and cilantro.

The grand total for this week looks like this:

2 zucchini
5 yellow squash
2 UFO-looking squashes
a whole mess of baby cucumbers
2 heads of garlic
2 bunches of kale
a bag of green beans
a bag of broccoli
2 purple cabbages
1 torpedo shaped green cabbage

Don't forget to tell your friends about the contest!!!

Week 5: Where's My Ho? Here I Am!

July 8, 2010

It's week 5, and I'm thrilled to say that this week's CSA basket was practically vomiting up color. Sure, it was still packed tight with kale--two kinds no less--but we've moved beyond the leafy greens for the most part and into the the world of squash.

Today while I was picking up my basket, I met a fellow CSAer named Susan. Does she or does she not look like she could be the spokes model for CSAs all over the world?

That's right, she does. It's gotta be the skirt. Here's the way I see it:

Long Skirt = Organic Vegetable Lover

Knee Length Skirt = Mormon Party Goer

Mini Skirt = Natural Light Drinker

It's all very scientific.

Anyhoo, Susan isn't just any old CSA member, she's also a member of the Cold Stream Herbal CSA. For $100 extra, you get a whole mess of herbs, flowers, and homemade handicrafts.

This week, Cold Stream members got a plate of lemon balm cookies with cream cheese frosting, a tea ball, a bunch of lavender, and a ginormous load of lemon balm:

They also get all kinds of tips and directions on how to use the herbs medicinally. For example, did you know that lemon balm is fantastic for treating oral and genital herpes?

Susan told me that.

I was like, "That's great information. Let me actually just write it down on this post it note here. You know, for my mom. And my sister. But not for me....STOP STARING AT ME!"

Moving on...

This is the inside of the greenhouse at Long Meadow Farm:

As far as I can tell, they're growing plants.

This is Farmer Anna. She was toiling in the fields, so we stopped to say hi. I quickly realized that we were holding her up, so I was like, "Get back to work and grow my food, woman!" It almost feels like I have my very own lawn boy. Man, I'm loving the power!

As the kids and I were walking back to the car, Anna was like, "Where's my tool?!"

And I was all, "What?!"

And she said, "Where's my ho?!"

So I said, "I'm right here! Where's my b!tch?!"

She meant garden ho, which is fine, because I was definitely talking about a female dog.

Moving on again....

I turned around on our drive home and saw this:

It was never meant to be a cup holder, those holes in your car are actually engineered for summer squash.

And finally, a look at this week's haul:

Rainbow carrots--almost as cool as Skittles. Almost.

And the final count looks like this:

2 zucchini

4 mysterious light green squash

2 yellow summer squash

3 squatty shaped yellow squash

2 bags of rainbow carrots

2 bunches of kale

cilantro

basil

2 heads of cabbage

2 bunches of beets

3 little heads of lettuce

We had hot pockets for dinner.

Kidding, kidding...

Knowing Where it Comes From

June 30, 2010

If you're not completely captivated by the thought of these people producing your food, then you're flat out crazy.

Anna whispering sweet nothings to her sheep:

Anna doing something that I'm too lazy to do:

Anna carrying something heavy:

Michele planting garlic, and Denis hoeing a row (I have no idea if that's what he's actually doing, but I heard it in a Dixie Chicks song and it seems like it fits):

Not sure about you, but we're the type of family that usually shares a prayer before we eat--you know, if we're not so super hungry that the food just kind of jumps into our open mouths before we have the chance to bring it up with God.

But most of the time, one of us offers a prayer. And most of the time, the prayer says at least these two same things:

1. We're thankful for this food, and

2. Please bless it to make our bodies strong and healthy.

As far as the whole 'thankful' thing goes, I can assure you that it's one thing to be grateful that you swiped your debit card at Hannaford and *surprise* you actually did have enough money in your account to buy that two pack SnoBalls. But gratitude for having friends and neighbors who are willing and able to use their land to grow natural, organic food that's completely safe for you and your family to eat? Gratitude that someone is stooped over in a local field, pulling up your carrots and wiping the soil on their jeans? I can absolutely assure you that that measure of gratitude is on a completely different plane.

And how about the 'bless it to make our bodies healthy and stong' part? When I sit down with my family to eat something that was produced in a factory, or doused in pesticides, I'll tell you, that prayer really means a lot. After all, it could take a real miracle to see an increase in health from that kind of food. But this CSA produce is totally and completely different. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it's increasing my kids' health, and fighting off the cancer that everyone seems to get these days. Furthermore, I wholeheartedly believe that it's reversing the effects of the Sinckers bar I ate for breakfast dessert and taking years from my complexion with every single bite.

Now if Long Meadow farm could start growing a cookie here and there, my life would be complete.

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: