The season is winding down...sadly

Now that our first frost is long past and we've had two snowstorms, our weekly produce keeps coming, amazingly. But I'm wistfully thinking about all those wonderful tomatoes and zucchini we recently enjoyed, and wishing I had appreciated them more while we had them. In case you are wondering about the taste of the tomatoes, the ones we received in our CSA share tasted every bit as delicious and flavorful as the ones I grew in the back yard! Except this year my backyard tomato plant had too much shade, so it didn't produce very well. I was thankful to be getting them in my weekly box from Grant Farms.

I have made a few batches of some wonderful vegetable soup with the cabbage and winter vegetables that is very low in calories, and so flavorful! And Carolyn passed along a recipe for pumpkin soup that she made from the fresh pumpkin that came with our order. (see recipes below) I have enjoyed the orange beets that we've gotten recently, which are a little sweeter than the traditional purple ones, and I love the purple carrots, which are still orange inside, with a little yellow ring in the center. They are sweeter than regular carrots as well.

It feels so good to be eating organic, local produce. This is a lifestyle change that I know I'll be sticking with!

Pumpkin Soup

1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 lg. yellow bell peppers, chopped
2 med. chopped carrots
1 medium chopped onion
1/2 tsp. Spanish smoked paprika
2 garlic cloves, chopped
5 cups vegetable broth
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 small pumpkin
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. unsalted pumpkin seeds, toasted
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

1. Peel and chop the pumpkin into 1 inch cubes. Place in large dutch oven, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until tender. Place half in food processor or blender, using some of the water and process until smooth. Place into bowl and repeat with other half of cooked pumpkin. Reserve any remaining liquid in separate container as part of the 5 cups vegetable broth.

2. Heat oil in dutch oven over medium high heat. Add bell pepper, carrot and onion, cooking 10 min. or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add paprika and garlic and saute 1 min. Add 3 cups of the broth and black pepper, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 min. or until vegetables are tender.

3. Place 1/3 of the veggie mixture into the food processor or blender and process until smooth. Pour into the bowl with the pureed pumpkin. Repeat procedure with remaining veggies.

4. Return the pureed vegetable mixture and the pumpkin to the dutch overn and stir int he remaining 2 cups of broth. Cook over low heat for 10 min. or until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Ladle into bowls and top each serving with pumpkin seeds and parsley. Serve immediately.

Note you may use a 15 ounce can of salt free pumpkin puree to save time or if fresh pumpkins aren't in season.

Garden Vegetable Soup

1 1/3 cups sliced carrot
1 cup diced onion
2 tsp. olive oil
4 minced garlic cloves
6 cups fat free chicken broth
3 cups diced green cabbage
1 cup green beans
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup diced zucchini

Saute the carrot, onion and garlic in olive oil over low heat until softened, about 5 min. Add broth, cabbage, beans, tomato paste, and spices, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer covered about 15 min. or until beans are tender. Stir in the zucchini and heat for 3-4 min. Serve hot. This recipe serves 8.

Note: You can use whatever veggies you have on hand for this soup, with the basic recipe. I've tried it with cauliflower instead of green beans, and also added mushrooms, kale, collard greens, squash, and quinoa, all with great results.

I was lamenting to my friend Carrie over lunch the other day that I didn't know what to do with all the eggplant I have accumulated. I kept thinking about making the old standard Eggplant Parmesan but I wasn't getting inspired to do so. Eggplant just isn't my favorite vegetable. Carrie perked right up when I told her my problem. This is one of her favorite recipes, and she was happy to share it:

Eggplant Polenta Casserole

1 cup dry polenta
3 cups water
salt to taste
3/4 cup smoked gouda or similar cheese
2 large eggplants, cut into 1 inch squares
olive oil
Italian spices
3/4 cup red onion
3-4 cloves garlic
red wine
2 14-oz cans diced tomatoes, or fresh
salt
pepper
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

Whisk polenta and salt to taste into boiling water. Use a thick bottom pot and cook for 15 minutes, lowering heat to simmer. Add 3/4 to 1 cup of smoked cheese, shredded. Pour polenta onto wax paper and let it cool. Cut into squares.

Peel and cut 2 large eggplants into 1 inch square chunks. Toss in a plastic bag with olive oil, italian spices, salt and pepper. Lay out on a foil lined cookie sheet and roast until tender, about 30 minutes. Turn over halfway. While eggplant is roasting, prepare the sauce.

For the sauce, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onions are clear. Add italian spices to taste, salt and pepper, a splash of red wine, and two 14 oz. cans of diced tomatoes (or equivalent fresh). Simmer.

Layer sauce, polenta, eggplant and mozzarella cheese and repeat until you are out of ingredients in a casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

I've just most of the last couple of weeks in the mountains on vacation. Even though I made a special trip home on pickup day to get my produce and take it back to the mountains, I haven't made much of a dent in my lettuce, cabbage, or beets lately. Vacations tend to bring out the worst of my eating behaviors...and I've been indulging in ice cream, lots of meat on the grill, and even chips and dip.
Well, now it's time to change that! I am wondering how to use up some of the lovely stuff that's overflowing in my vegetable bin, and in the recesses of my brain I remember an old favorite vegetarian recipe that uses a lot of the stuff I have on hand. Bingo! This'll work!

Colorado Sunset Burritos

8 large whole wheat flour tortillas (or your favorite kind)
16 oz. can vegetarian refried beans
1/2 cup taco sauce
2 cups grated cabbage, red or green
2 cups peeled and grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Spread 3 tbsp. beans and 1 tbsp. taco sauce on each tortilla. Add lines of vegetables. Sprinkle with cheese. Microwave open faced until hot. Roll and serve.

I'm glad about what's in my fridge

I just watched the movie "Food, Inc." a documentary that exposes the underbelly of the food industry in our country and gives us many very sound reasons for eating organic and buying locally. I highly recommend this film. Interestingly, a representative from Grant Farms was at the theatre passing out a free half dozen organic pasture raised eggs at the end of the movie. Good marketing!

Before going to the movie theatre this evening, I unpacked my CSA vegetables that had been kindly left for me by Carolyn in her cooler on my front porch. We've developed a nice routine of picking them up from the stand at alternating times, dividing them in half, and getting them to each other. My half share this week was very generous, and it looks like we are getting warmed up! Our season is late to mature because of all the rainy cold weather we had early in the season, but things are looking good now!

Today I unpacked some lovely large beets, corn on the cob, parsley, cilantro, eggplant, cabbage, peas, romaine lettuce, spinach, and a large purple kohlrabi! There were also some carrots, long radishes, onions, and of course, eggs. I remembered what worked so well for me last week: slicing up radishes ahead of time and washing the lettuce meant that at dinnertime I could just reach in the fridge and in two seconds I had a nice salad. I took that big purple kohlrabi and chopped it into small squares, and I also sliced more radishes and carrots to toss with lettuce. I'm getting good! Salads are becoming a real staple...I'm eating them twice as much as I did before CSA came along!

Plentiful Zucchini

I wanted to come up with a recipe that incorporated several of the vegetables I had on hand, and I believe I came up with a good one. I did my usual recipe search on the internet and found Drop Dead Delicious Stuffed Zucchini on recipezaar.com. I modified it a bit and came up with this one that used the zucchini, eggplant, egg, and onion that I had on hand from my CSA food.

Stuffed Zucchini
4 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise
1 medium onion, diced
1/3 cup roasted red pepper, chopped
1/3 cup eggplant, diced
2 large cloves garlic
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. oregano
salt and pepper
3/4 lb. ground beef (or whatever substitute you like)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
shredded cheese for topping (I used pepper jack)

1. Wash zucchini, halve and put in a pot of cold water. Do not remove ends.
2. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 10 min.
3. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet.
4. Sautee garlic first, then add onions, eggplant and spices
5. When eggplant and onions have softened, add ground meat, season with salt and pepper, and brown through.
6. Drain off grease.
7. Set aside to cool slightly.
8. Remove cooked zucchini from water, allow to cool. Then scoop out center, leaving a little flesh to form a boat.
9. Mix ground meat mixture with the red peppers, and the scooped out zucchini (chopped) and the egg.
10. Full the zucchini boats with the mixture, and top with grated cheese.
11. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
12. Serve hot.

Somehow weeks 6, 7 and 8 have flown by, and I'm in week 9, as I've been informed by Grant Farm's e-newsletter. We are about one-third into the 26-week season, and I am still firm in my commitment to support local agriculture and organic farming, rather than giving my dollars to huge mega-farms from far away who use genetically modified seeds that have bred Roundup into the food.

I am still trying to think of new ways to use up all the kale. I was told that one way to use it up is to steam it, roll it into balls, and freeze it, using it in the winter months for soups and stews. That seems like a good way to spread it out, so I steamed some this week and stored it in a ziploc bag in the freezer.

As the season rolls along, we are finally getting into zucchini, summer squash, and green beans. Also this week for the first time there was eggplant, artichokes, and corn on the cob. These are vegetables that I find easier to use up. I've been eating the zucchini raw in salads or dipped in hummus, and squash and green beans I've steamed and mixed with other veggies. We've also had fresh basil leaves the last two weeks, which inspired me to make a new type of salad--Caprese-style. Since we aren't quite into tomatoes yet, I bought some organic heirloom tomatoes at the supermarket and sliced them over a lettuce bed of baby greens (this time soaked in water and cleaned more thoroughly, inspecting carefully for worms). On top of the tomato slices, I put a slice of fresh buffalo mozzarella and sprinkled it all with fresh-ground pepper. Over the top, I drizzled some balsamic vinegar dressing. It was sooooo good.

Is the novelty wearing off?

Even though the Thursday pickup is on my calendar and I get a pop-up reminder telling me to go get the veggies between 4 and 7 p.m., I forgot to go this week. I was attending a free summer concert just a few blocks away from my pickup location, and it dawned on me at about 8 p.m. that I hadn't picked up the vegetables. I made a quick decision to scoot on over there, even though the 7 p.m. cutoff time had passed and I was on my bike with no way to get them home.

I know I'm not the only CSA customer who has forgotten their pickup. Maggie, who runs one of the farm's pickup locations, tells me that every week there are about 7 or 8 customers who neglect to pick up their veggies, and when she doesn't hear from them the next day, she simply donates them to the food bank.

I pulled up at the lean-to just as it was getting dark, and was relieved to see the colorful bins still waiting. I took out my cell phone and dialed my husband who said he would meet me with the car and the bags if they were still there. I quickly discovered that mosquitos were thick in the air, and I sat next to the bins slapping my arms and legs while I waited. In the gathering dark, Scott pulled up with the car and we quickly loaded the forgotten vegetables with relief.

My family's eating habits

I am beginning to wonder how the presence of this fresh food in our household has changed my family, if at all. Well, despite a good start on the first week, my daughter Corinne has managed to avoid consuming any of the fresh salad greens I've been bringing home. I think her craving for salad that first week was a fluke. That was actually the first time I've seen her eat salad in her 19 years. I'm hoping it won't be the last. Discouragingly, she told me the next day that she "hates" salad that is fixed at home. Take-out salad is the only kind she likes!! Well, one day she may join me in my preferences for organic and locally grown food. For now, she prefers take-out whenever possible. I steamed all the broccoli that came this week and put it in the fridge in a tupperware container with a note. It said "Corinne--please eat." Broccoli has always been a vegetable she will consume, and it was gone within a couple of days.

My husband Scott will eat anything I put in front of him. In fact, after things settled down with the worms the other night, he even ate the salad that had the wildly waving worm! It's just a matter of fixing it for him. He's not creative in the kitchen, but will willingly help if I ask him to steam broccoli or green beans, or tear up lettuce for salad. I suppose one change for him is that he now actually eats salad as his entree for dinner. This is a new thing in our household! We just haven't been big at-home salad eaters until now. But we are committed to eating them now, I'm tellin' you! We've got a lot of lettuce to get through this week!

For me? Well I think I am eating more vegetables. Lunch most days consists of salad, as does dinner. I went to the mountains for a few days and took pre-made salad and cold cooked beets, which I ate on my salad with ranch dressing.

My neighbor came for dinner and I served her steamed zucchini, mixed with swiss chard, seasoned with a little garlic salt and olive oil. I sent her home with some collard greens and some kale, but I could tell she wasn't too sure about them.

Instead of eating one vegetable with dinner each evening, we are now eating two. That's a good thing! So as far as progress goes, I guess I can count that.

A good Kale Fritatta recipe

These vegetables aren't disappearing fast enough. I decided that I need to start eating them at breakfast, not just lunch and dinner. Here's one that used up some of that ever-lovin' kale that I found delish:

Kale Fritatta
Chopped kale
Diced onion
Minced garlic to taste
Sliced mushroom
Red bell pepper
Chopped sun-dried tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes)
Saute all above ingredients, then pour scrambled eggs into the pan. Season with fresh thyme, salt, pepper, and paprika. Top with crumbled feta cheese before popping it under the broiler (cheese gets slightly soft, kale gets a little crispy). Drizzle hot sauce over the top, if desired.

Adding pasture raised eggs to my weekly order

Ever since that first week when we received a free half dozen eggs, I've been thinking of adding eggs to my weekly order. I called Grant's Farm and asked the price, and found out they would cost $4.50 per dozen. At the Farmer's Market, I talked to the person who is in charge of the farm's egg program, and he sold me on the superior quality of eggs that come from pasture raised hens, who are fed organic scraps.

I decided that the farm's "pasture raised" eggs were something I'd like to try after learning that "pasture raised" is much better than "cage free" where hens are still in a pen with many others and have access to a small door to go outside, buy most rarely do. Instead, pasture raised hens live mostly outside and wander the pasture, pecking around and looking for bugs and worms to eat, and are fed a totally organic diet of corn and soybeans, as well as organic scraps from the same vegetables we are consuming. The yolks of these eggs are more orange in color than yellow.

So, we added a dozen eggs to our order starting this week, and Carolyn has agreed to split it with us.

What's that in those baby greens?

The weekly pickup of vegetables is beginning to flow. I needed to be out of town last Thursday afternoon and Carolyn did the pickup and the division of produce. She used a scale when she wasn't sure about dividing things visually. I arrived back home on Saturday and picked up my half share from Carolyn. As it turned out, being gone for two days put a dent in the amount of time we had to consume the food and we started falling behind again. I decided that lettuce would keep better cleaned, so I washed and spun all the leaves, storing them dry in a tightly covered bowl, and they did stay fresh longer.

I've noticed that the baby greens do not keep very long. After only a couple of days the edges begin to turn black, so they need to be consumed first before the lettuce. Somehow that hasn't worked out too well. Last week I gave away the baby greens, knowing I wouldn't be able to consume them in time. This week I am determined they are not going to waste.

On Saturday evening we arrived home from a day out and wanted a light supper on a rainy evening. Soup and salad seemed like just the right thing. I prepared two large salads with the baby greens, adding some radishes from our CSA share and some cherry tomatoes that I'd purchased at the grocery store, since our share is not providing tomatoes...yet. I sprinkled some pine nuts and feta cheese over the top of the salads and set them on the table while I was getting the soup into bowls.

I came over to the table and sat down, noticing something round and green sitting on the table next to my salad bowl. I frowned quizzically, and touched it, saying out loud, "is that a worm?" Sure enough, it was soft to the touch and it moved. I realized it was a caterpillar, just the right lime green color to be camoflouged by the lettuce leaves. I was relieved it had decided to hop out of my salad bowl before I started to eat it. I was a little suspicious of my salad after that and I looked carefully before taking the next few bites.

It was then that I noticed something moving in Scott's salad. The same sort of green worm was waving wildly, rising up tall, looking for a way out of his salad bowl. I let out a squeal. Scott jumped. "What's wrong?" and I pointed to his salad bowl where an agitated green caterpillar stood on his tiptoes and careened back and forth. Scott shoved his salad bowl aside.

My appetite for salad was gone. I pushed my salad bowl away, finished my soup, and called it good. After all, my soup was a vegetable soup, and I decided that was enough produce for that day.

Mystery Vegetables

I decided that keeping our vegetables in a cooler all growing season just won't work; some reorganizing is in order. We have a mini fridge in a closet off our dining room for beer, and I realized this had to be the spot for the overflow. I told my husband that fridge could no longer be reserved only for beer, that our vegetables would have to go in there, too. I adjusted the shelves, cleaned the goo off the surfaces that had leaked from who knows what condiment or sauce, and threw away some old, suspicious looking things that were lurking in the vegetable drawer. Then I transferred the produce from the cooler into the beer fridge. Now the trick is going to be to not forget about what's tucked away in there, out of sight from the daily opening of the main fridge in the kitchen.

There is a mystery vegetable this week. It's a turnip-looking light green bulb on the bottom, sort of round, with multiple green stalks growing out of it with large leaves. I 've never seen such a thing. I consulted with the chart provided by the farm and decided it must be Kohlrabi. I looked it up on the internet, realizing I could trim the stalks so it could be more compactly stored, and put it in the beer fridge. More on that later.

Another mystery is with what I thought was the cilantro. I gave some to Carolyn, and she told me it was parsley. I looked both of them up on the internet and they look distinctly different. But she said that Italian parsley has flatter leaves than regular parsley, and she thinks that's what it is, since the flavor doesn't have any kick. She made Tabouli with it, which turned out wonderfully. We decided that it didn't matter for the Tabouli, cilantro or parsley, it was delicious.

Pot luck with our veggies

We were invited to a fourth of July party, and I was asked to bring a side salad, but not a green salad. I browsed recipes and wondered how I could use up some of my fresh produce. I settled on a Black Bean Quinoa Salad, but wasn't satisfied with the one recipe I found, so I combined three recipes. Here's my version, which I took to the party and received compliments on:

Black Bean Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups cold water
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 cans black beans, drain and rinse well
1 cup chopped celery
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
2 tsp. cumin powder
2 tsp. coriander powder
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup frozen corn, defrosted and warmed slightly
3 green onions, sliced thinly
Mix together:
6 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt
Directions: Soak the quinoa 1/2 hour in cold water, then rinse and drain. Place in 2 quart pot with water and salt. Bring to a boil, turn heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit 5 minutes covered, then fluff gently with a fork and set aside to cool.
Dice vegetables and mix with black beans and spices. Gently combine cooked quinoa with the vegetables and beans in a large bowl. Pour lime juice and olive oil mixture over and mix in. Cover and chill. Serves 8-10.

Making room for more vegetables

Week three my husband Scott joined me on the trip to pick up our veggie share. I showed him the notebook where we checked my name off the list and which color bin (ours is red) to pick up. This week the bin was chock-full, and I wondered how I could possibly fit all this produce into our refrigerator! At home, I pulled it all out of the bags and put it in a pile on on the kitchen counter. It was two feet wide and a foot tall! "Wow," I thought. "I am really going to have to look for someone to share this with." In the meantime, I needed to put it somewhere. Scott pulled out a cooler and we decided until getting organized it could be stored there. After all, the vegetable bin in the fridge was still full from what's left of last week's allotment!

So the cooler stayed in our dining room for a couple of days and I started telling friends about our CSA commitment. While hiking with Carolyn, a friend who is very health-conscious, I asked her if she was interested and explained what it was about. "You bet!" was her response. I cautioned her that this was a long-term commitment and told her we shared the risk with the farmer, suggesting that she think it over. But she needed no convincing. She was ready to go for it, and that was easy! The first friend I asked was willing to split our share, and we are set for the growing season.

Greens, greens and more greens

Week two brought more spinach, more butter lettuce, more kale, cilantro, and beets. I gave my son some of it, and realized I should start looking for someone to share our share with on a weekly basis. Even with my firm commitment to eating this stuff, there was more here than we could consume. Mostly it’s just two of us eating, and our 18-year-old daughter rarely eats with us.

Never having had kale and knowing there would be a lot of it, I resolved to figure out some ways to eat the stuff. I’ve found that searching the net for recipes is much easier and more productive than perusing cookbooks when you have one particular ingredient you want to use up. I found a recipe using some Kale and Collard Greens that we enjoyed one evening for dinner outside under our covered front porch:

Pasta With Greens

Start your pasta water heating.

Slice the kale/chard/greens about twice the size of matchsticks... it doesn't have to be exact, you could tear it, even.

Then, saute the greens in a mixture of olive oil and butter with chopped onion, garlic (chopped or slivered) and as they cook down, add chopped parsley. (I often add a variety of herbs, though just italian parsley works great.)

If you like the idea, add a couple of diced tomatoes at this point, or some cherry tomatoes halved. Let the saute cook down as the pasta boils... I use either spaghetti or penne, though most any pasta you have will work.

When the pasta is done, toss it with the sauce and grated parmesean or pecorino.

**You can also add a little wine or chicken or vegetable broth about halfway through the saute for additional flavor. Beet greens are also a wonderful addition.

I followed this recipe, adding a little bit of feta cheese flavored with basil and sun-dried tomato on top. It was delicious!

Planning and Preparing Ahead

A couple of days after picking up my first week's share of produce, my determination to not let the produce rot before we consumed it was heavy on my mind. I washed and tore up a head of Butter lettuce and half a head of Romaine, spinned out the water in the salad spinner and put the ready-to-eat lettuce in a big bowl in the fridge. Then I sat down at the computer and did a Google search for "Cilantro Recipes," and "Rhubarb Recipes." Here's what I came up with:

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp. flour
4 cups rhubarb, cut in 1/2 inch slices
4 cups strawberries
3 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup melted butter
Combine white sugar and flour. Add rhubarb and strawberries, stir. Put in a 9x13 pan. Combine other ingredients and sprinkle over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Can be served warm with vanilla ice cream.

I made this version and it turned out great. The recipe actually called for 1/2 cup more of white sugar, but I put in only a cup. It's easy!

Here's another one I have not yet tried, but it will be a good way to use up all that cilantro I know is coming:

Fabulous Cilantro Pesto Pasta

One 16-ounce package farfalle pasta
1 bunch fresh cilantro
5 cloves garlic
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
salt to taste
1/2 cup olive oil

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta, and return water to a boil. Cook pasta for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente, drain well.
2. In an electric food processor or blender, blend cilantro, garlic, vinegar, Parmesan cheese, cayenne pepper, nuts, and salt. Add 1/4 cup of the olive oil, and blend the pesto. Add more olive oil until the pesto reaches your desired consistency.
3. Pour pesto in a small saucepan and warm over low heat, stirring constantly, until pesto begins to simmer. Pour over cooked pasta and toss.
   

My good intentions are still strong, and I am not forgetting about that vegetable bin in the fridge that's chock-full!

Salad for dinner, a new phenomenon

My first produce pickup was yesterday. I was able to choose a location a few blocks from my home, hosted by an architecture firm. A wooden lean-to has been constructed to house the pickup, next to the building on a corner. I pulled up and saw brightly colored bins stacked under the lean-to with a sheet of instructions posted. The blue bins were Family shares (large), the red bins are Small shares (medium) and the purple bins are Single shares (small). Hmmm, those labels seem confusing, reminding me of Starbucks sizes, where a Grande means small. I guess they think that small, medium, and large would be too generic a way to describe them.
I had been reminded by the Grant Farms e-newsletter to bring my canvas bags. I put a check by my name on the list, and peered into my red small share box. I was pleased with my first week's assortment: 2 heads of Butter lettuce, one head of Romaine, a large bag of spinach, several stalks of rhubarb, several small beets, and bunches of dill and cilantro. They even enclosed a half dozen organic eggs (pasture raised) with a note encouraging me to sign up for an egg share so I could receive them weekly.
As I loaded my canvas bags with produce, I mused that it was going to take some commitment and planning to use these vegetables up every week and make sure they don't rot in the refrigerator. It will take some discipline to wash and prepare vegetables instead of eating out or picking up prepared foods as I often have been in the habit of doing.
When I got home with the produce, my 18-year-old daughter Corinne announced that she was "in the mood" for a salad, offering to go to her favorite salad place and pick up take-out salad for dinner. I laughed, and showed her the heads of lettuce and bag of spinach I had just picked up. She wanted Greek salad, so she headed to the store to pick up olives and feta cheese to add to what I'd just brought home, and she prepared a family-sized Greek salad for our main course for that night's supper. As Corinne, my husband Scott, and I ate our salad that evening, I thought I was getting a glimmer of how this CSA thing might change our eating habits.

Signing up to buy local produce direct from the farm

I am motivated to buy my food locally for a number of reasons. Yes, it's currently the "in thing," but it makes a whole lot of sense to eat food that has not been shipped from hundreds of miles away, or even from overseas, when there is an abundance of food being produced near where I live. Why use all the fossil fuel it takes to transport food all over the globe? So, I signed up for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share this spring, committing to a weekly pickup of organic vegetables from one of the local organic farms near my hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado. It's a risk: they require up-front payment for the 26-week season of $20 per week for the medium-sized share I signed up for, and as a customer, I share the risk with the farmer of the crops being damaged by hail or other weather events out of anyone's control. But I am motivated also by a desire to eat organic food as often as possible, and to eat healthier. This 26-week growing season will be an experiment for me and my family.