Friday, October 26, 2007

CSA: Community Supported Agriculture

It just occurred to me that I have not posted about my CSA! Mr. Wonderful and I decided to sign up for a "every two weeks" CSA for an unremembered sum of money. So every two weeks, we get a box of veggies. The first box contained:

Collard Greens
Okra (Burgundy, Cajun green and Clemson spineless)
Basil
Sweet Peppers (Blushing Beauty, Yolo Wonder)
Hot peppers (Albino, Jalapeno, Slim Jim)
Zucchini
Baby Arugula
Squash (straigh neck yellow and starburst patty pan)
Sweet potatoes
Sun Gold cherry tomatoes
Some onion

In addition to our haul, an email newsletter was sent with a list of the veggies differentiating the varieties (in fact, I just read the letter because I didn't know we got different kinds of hot peppers, I just thought they were different sizes!), a few recipes, and storage tips. So far, very happy!

We have used some of the veggies to make a few dishes including a squash casserole (VERY YUMMY, recipe coming soon), spicy collard greens (another post about this one soon also), salads, and a baked sweet potato (well, that's not a dish but we ate it. Yum!)

This weekend, we are going camping. We sliced the squash last night and packed it for grilling. We also combined the basil with oil for a brush on for the squash. Can't wait!

We also preserved the basil by freezing it into ice cubes for freezer storage and I strung some up for drying. This isn't a new idea but a borrowed one from Tricia the Red and her pesto cubes. Hurrah!

I'm also going to try to pickle the okra, another Tricia the Red lifting. I tried her pickled okra and they were freakin' awesome! I would like to repeat or at least try it out. Wish me luck.

My brother and sister-in-law sent us two books for Mr. Wonderful and mine's first anniversary: Food to Live by and another one that I can't remember the name of. They both look very promising as the recipes remain simple and seasonal foods are paired together. So there's a good chance that we will have multiple ingredients together already without saying "crud, I can't make this, I don't have blah blah!"

HUZZAH!

Food pic of the day: Patty Pan Squash


2 comments:

triciathered said...

Can't wait to hear how the basil-infused oil turned out. Sounds wonderful on grilled squash!
Hope you had a good time camping.

Love ya!

tiny robot said...

That fire-cooked squash Saturday night had so much love in it, I am still reeling with tastebud joy.