CSA, Weeks 8, 9, and 10**

So, I started this post last week, and now another week has gone by and more veggies have arrived.  We’ve been so busy, the time has just escaped us.  I also haven’t had any time to play in photoshop to give you the photo with the fruits and veggies identified, but I’m sure you can figure out what is what.  Here’s the farm fresh produce we received:

Week 8: Sweet Corn, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Bell Pepper, Broccoli, Ground Cherries (not pictured) Garlic, Italian Basil, Thai Basil, Peaches, and Rambo Apples

Week 9: Sweet Corn, Potatoes, Tomatillos, Tomatoes, Ground Cherries, Yellow Squash, Radishes, Garlic, and Peaches – After this week’s pick-up, we had to rush to cook/store everything as we left Wednesday night to drive to Michigan.  I cooked all the corn, then cut it off the cob for storage in the freezer.  The potatoes were cooked and a huge container of garlic mashed potatoes was made, I freezed squash and tomatillos, and the peaches were sliced and pitted and stored in the freezer as well.  The radishes did not fare well in the fridge and were thrown out upon our return from Michigan.  The tomatoes and some of the peaches traveled with us.

Week 10: Sweet Corn, Broccoli, Purple Potatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatillos, Garlic, Italian Basil, Peppermint, Rambo Apples, Peaches, and Nectarines

Thoughts on the CSA:  I have really enjoyed getting farm fresh organic veggies.  We have had the opportunity to try new herbs that aren’t available at a regular grocery store, and try new recipes made with veggies we don’t normally buy.  On the down side, I don’t know if this is just our farm, or if others are similar, but we get an email the night before our pick-up date telling us what veggies to expect.  I typically view that email as the starting point for planning our dinners and will stop by the grocery store at lunch the next day to pick up any complementary items.  For week 8, the notice said we’d be receiving tomatillos, so I picked up a few items (avocado, jalapeno, and limes) to make a tomatillo salsa.  Then, we I arrived at the pick-up, I was disappointed to find that there were no tomatillos (instead we got broccoli).  So, that meant a trip back to the grocery store to pick up some so that I could make my salsa with the other ingredients I had already purchased.  This has happened on other occasions as well, and I guess my lesson is to wait until after I pick-up the veggies before I do any additional grocery shopping.

**We did not skip Week 7; we were out of town and a friend of ours was able to enjoy our share.