One of our lost posts explained why Greg isn’t allowed to grocery shop for vegetables. To summarize, it featured this image
as a side by side comparison of what Greg brought home vs. what I brought home in the same week and was something to the effect of: WHERE DID YOU EVEN FIND LETTUCE LIKE THIS????
Starting June, that will no longer be a problem. Greg and I are proud to say that we are now share holders of a Green Fence Farm CSA. Inspired by In Defense of Food and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, it was only an added bonus to know were supporting personal friends of ours as well. (Click here to learn more about CSAs.)
What I am excited about is the fresh-from-the-earth vegetables every month and new creative ingredients to experiment with and add to my cooking arsenal. In the meantime, we will be eating good, unprocessed food, increasing our veggie intake and supporting local farmers we know. Sounds like a plan with no drawbacks.
When our first dozen of “Welcome to the farm” eggs came, they were the freshest, most brightly colored eggs I had every seen. In addition, we are learning more about the food we eat. Did you know that fresh eggs can last up to one month without any refrigeration? With refrigeration…well, let’s just say, you don’t want to know how long it’s been since those eggs that they are selling you in the grocery store were actually laid.
It’s an exciting endeavor, but I am a little nervous. As we get what is in season every two weeks, there are a lot of things coming to us that I don’t normally eat and am unsure of how to prepare them. So anyone with suggestions on what to do with beets, turnips, cabbage and swiss chard, please write in!
yay! I’m looking forward to seeing what you make and what you learn about different veggies. I love the idea of a CSA, but as a single person I think i’d end up with turnips coming out of my ears. But if there are some weeks when you just end up with a whole lot of extra something, I may be begging you to share.
Mmmm, swiss chard…Enjoy! Everything from Green Fence Farm is yummy- can’t wait to hear about your culinary adventures!
Stef, I’m sure we can figure out how to get some vegetables to you. Even as a couple, I’m not sure how much we’ll be able to eat! Greg is just venturing beyond peas and broccoli, so a week of meals consisting of turnips and radishes might be too big of a plunge for him.
Truly fresh beets can be peeled and sliced and eaten like candy — they are amazingly sweet and not at all like that stuff in a can (and you get to dye your hands purple while you are at it). I had a friend of mine who used to give me beets from her garden and all they needed was a little salt/pepper. You can also roast them in the oven (or in the coals of a fire) or pickle them (I have a recipe for that).
I’ve never been partial to turnips and only used to have a spoonful at every Thanksgiving….to remind myself why I hate turnips. You can boil and mash them like potatoes (which sometimes would turn up on my childhood dinner plate, to be pushed around in a failed attempt to convince my parents that yes, I had eaten some of them). My grandmother used to make a creamed turnip dish (from the aforementioned Thanksgiving) but I never sought the recipe for that one…
Cabbage, besides the obvious corned beef, cole slaw and sauerkraut recipes, can be made into soups (hot or cold for the summer), added to stews, made into Polish Golumki (stuffed cabbage), or sauteed with bacon (or sausage) and onion. You can also hollow it out and use it as a fancy-schmancy bowl to hold dip for a veggie tray.
Swiss chard can be torn and used as a salad base. You can also prepare it as you would spinach.
LOVE fresh veggies!