Share #2

Well, it's now after our second week of produce from our CSA, and I think we did a little better--the only thing that went bad before we used it was some kale. In addition to the kale, we got two cucumbers, a buttercup squash, tomatoes, bok choi, Thai (I think) chili peppers, and some yard long beans. I'm a bad blogger, so I forgot to take pictures of everything we got before I used it, but here are the ones I did shoot.

These are some quickly-pickled cucumbers in cider vinegar, with one of those hot chilis sliced up in it. It was SPICY.

The yard long beans. I cut these up into one inch pieces and stir-fried them with some marinated pork. Quite tasty.

Cherry tomatoes sliced and tossed with salt, pepper, and some olive oil.

And finally, the buttercup squash, roasted and then mashed with butter and salt. We want another one!

Share #1

Last Tuesday we got our first share of produce, and it was all very...green.

From left to right, we have Swiss chard; tatsoi (an Asian green related to Bok choi and turnip); below that cucumbers; Bok choi; radishes; and some leaf lettuce. I must confess here that I sort of failed on my very first week of produce. By the time we ate the lettuce, we had to pick

through it for the pieces that weren't brown and wilted. I wanted to cook the Swiss chard on Friday, but that was too late--it was wilted and leaving it in cold water for a while did not revive it. Perhaps the worst part is that I bought some at the grocery store because I still wanted to cook some Swiss chard. I have to do better in the future.

Now for the successful part! There was a recipe for a hash of mixed Asian greens on the newsletter that we got when we picked up our produce, so I thought I'd give it a shot. In addition to the greens it required potatoes, onions, garlic, and eggs, and luckily I had all three. This dish was really good and I will make it again if we get some of the same greens next time.

Welcome to my new blog! My wife and I recently decided to join a CSA for a year and see how it works out. We also entered into a friendly competition of who will keep up with a blog. Hers is about her craft projects and you can visit it here: http://jbolechcrafts.blogspot.com/ She's totally going to win...

In case you don't know, CSA stands for community supported agriculture, and is a means of buying produce by "subscribing" to a farm (or other distribution operation--generally not the best kind of CSA). You pay a monthly fee during the growing seasons, and that entitles you to a share of the crop. We live in Waco, Texas, so as far as I know there is only one CSA option. It is through World Hunger Relief, Inc., a "Christian organization committed to the alleviation of hunger around the world". They are involved in training people so that they can teach others around the world how to grow sustainable agriculture. You can find out much more about them on their website. I haven't visited their farm yet, but I definitely plan on it, so you can look forward to that post.

Joining a CSA was not an easy decision because it's far from the cheapest way to buy produce. We decided to give it a shot because we wanted to eat more locally, more plants, and more deliciously, and we hope our CSA will help us to do that.