How's That CSA Treating You?

Week 1

Not too bad. Although, while the weekly pickups of the Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA at Grindcore House (I'm writing this post from the all-vegan coffee shop!) are the highlight of my week (I'm utterly boring), the bundle of fresh produce is at times a little overwhelming.

This is my first year as part of a CSA, because previously I lived alone and there was no way I could eat even a half share's worth of produce. Now I live with another person, and a half share is just about right. There always seems to be a little something leftover at the end of the week that we didn't get to, though.

Week 2

I'm well aware of the seasons and what times of the year produce comes into season, so it wasn't really news to me that the beginning of the CSA season would be chock full of greens. In the past three weeks we've gone through 1 bag of baby mizuna, 1 bunch of mature mizuna, 1 bag of mixed greens, 1 bunch of dandelion greens, 1 container of micro greens, 1 head of green leaf lettuce, 1 head of red leaf lettuce, 2 heads of of romaine lettuce, 2 baby bok choy, and 2 bunches of collards.

Oh, and I also planted 10 lettuce plants in the raised bed of my rowhouse patio, full well knowing that the beginning of our CSA would be heavy on the greens. I wouldn't be lying if I said I was ready to move straight into August's bounty of tomatoes and squashes.

Week 3

Mostly, we've been shoving these vegetables straight in our pie holes uncooked in the form of salads of all sorts. Because I have a food blog, people tend to ask me what my favorite way to cook _____ (insert name of vegetable or fruit) is. The answer is eat it straight up! Maybe a little salt or pepper, or vinegar dressing. That is all.I had no intentions of writing about my CSA experience (but, hey, here it is!), but have posted pics on Twitter of our weekly hauls and some of what we've made with the produce, if these phone pics look familiar to some.

A little vinegar on some radishes to make refrigerator pickles. I always thought it was just pickled daikon that smelled like holy hell when you opened the container they're stored in. Nope, it's all radishes.

I particularly like the "swap box" when picking up our CSA share. One week I was able to swap out for an extra bundle or rhubarb. We had rhubarb pie, rhubarb compote, and . . .

strawberry-rhubarb sorbet!

How's that CSA treating you?