Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Going Local


Thanks to some good friends Sam and Jamie and to a great book club discussion over the book "The Omnivore's Dilemma," we are attempting to contribute more to our local farms and to eat more fresh and organic fruit. So, we joined a CSA-Community Supported Agriculture.. If you don't know what it is, here is a description from the farm's website.
"CSA is like a subscription, or a vegetable-of-the-week club. You pay in full for your share before the distributions begin in early June, and in return for your commitment to our farm we provide you with just-picked organic produce at a good value, as well as farm trips, news, recipes, and a community of like-minded people to get to know!"

I decided to sign up for a weekly distribution of fruit and a bi-monthly distribution of vegetables and fresh flowers. I was worried that I wouldn't use up all the vegetables. The picture at the top is of our share this past week!
I was pretty excited about it, but I wasn't sure what to do with it all. There were a few things I had never seen before. I had never seen pea shoots before. Luckily, we have the Internet.
We found a great recipe for pea shoots if any of you would like to try it. We loved it. It is a pea shoot pesto and here is the website http://coconutlime.blogspot.com/2008/06/pea-shoot-pesto.html

I have also discovered I love rhubarb, well at least I love them in muffins. I found my new favorite recipe for muffins. Here is the link.. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_13788,00.html

5 comments:

Monica Rich said...

Awesome! I hope your CSA experience is better than mine. I never want to see Bok Choy again.

Jill said...

That's exciting. It makes you feel good to know you are doing your part to help the community. Plus the food tastes so much better and it forces you to try new things. And probably the best part for you is delivery! (hopefully, anyway)

oh and if you liked Omnivore's Dilemma, check out "In Defense of Food" also by Michael Pollan. It's an easy read that gives more practical suggestions and real life applications.

Unknown said...

I wish we had delivery! Luckily, it is only a block away! Monica, I didn't know you did a CSA! When was that?

Ryan said...

WE want to join a CSA but there is only two of us and we cant find more people to split it with, and I dont know if we can cook enought. So we need to have some kids and fix the problem.

Are these grown in New Jersey?

I read pollans other book the botany of desire and loved learning more about apples then I ever imagined.

emily said...

wow--that is SO cool! i'm going to look up and see if there's anything like that around here.

glad you've been introduced to rhubarb--it's a hallowed plant on both sides of my family.

i'm going to have to get some of those books--good reading!