The Suburban Herbivore

Full share from September 2, 2009

I haven’t been tracking how far along my CSA is, but this is week 18 of 20. And it’s officially the end of the tomatoes for the season. It’s been a pretty good crop this year, though we didn’t receive as much variety as in years past – very few Cherokee Purple and no Orange Blossom. Though, on the other hand, I did really enjoy the colorful and yummy cherry tomatoes.

This week, we got three pounds of tomatoes, one cantaloupe, one quarter-pound of basil, one and a half pounds of green beans, and nine small turnips. I’m glad to get the green beans – I know exactly what I’m going to do with them: Thai-Spiced Tofu and Green Beans.

Last year at this time (week 19 of 20), we received a half pound of basil, two and a half pounds of tomatoes, one pound of Japanese eggplant, and two small acorn squash. My photo is nowhere to be found, unfortunately.

Full share from August 12, 2009

I’ve realized that I’m spending all of my blogging time posting the CSA share descriptions and very little else. So what am I doing with all this produce? Well, I’ve simply been incorporating a lot of it into dishes that I make frequently. Sad to say, I haven’t really been trying anything new. But I figure I get a little bit of leeway now that we have a baby. I do have plans for posting some recipes in the near future. Here’s a taste: Black Beans and Rice, Hummus, Habanero Salsa, Caprese Salad, and Vegetable Lasagna. Mmmmmm….

This week, we got one large bunch of basil, one pound of red, orange, and yellow bell peppers, three pounds of Big Beef and Pink Girl tomatoes, one pint of Sungold tomatoes, one pound of yellow squash, and one pound of red and white onions.

Full share from August 13, 2008.

Sorry for the crazy photo of last year’s share! We were on the road and had to snap the picture of the produce laid out in the back of Jason’s car. What we got: three pounds of potatoes, one cantaloupe, three pounds of tomatoes, two pounds of red, orange, and yellow bell peppers, and one pint of Sungold tomatoes.

Full share from July 22, 2009

Our CSA newsletter over the last few weeks hints that some people are getting Cherokee Purple and Striped German tomatoes. I’m sad that I’m not one of them. Hopefully my Cherokee Purples will begin to be ready fairly soon. I’m not familiar with Striped Germans, though I did try growing German Johnson tomatoes one year. It was pretty much a failure. The plant grew wonderfully, and I think I got all of one tomato from it.

Full share from July 23, 2008.

This week, we received five pounds of Big Beef and Pink Girl tomatoes, one pint of Sungold tomatoes, one pint of assorted cherry tomatoes, one cantaloupe, and three pounds Kennebec potatoes. I have to rave about the cherry tomatoes again. They are gorgeous and delicious! Kennebecs are a white-fleshed potato, and while to my mind, you can’t really go wrong with a potato, I do love the Yukon Golds.

Last year, we got: three pounds of tomatoes, two spaghetti squashes, two onions, one pound of bell peppers, one pound of Japanese eggplant, five assorted hot peppers (serranos), and two pints of Sungold tomatoes.

Half share from July 15, 2009.

We weren’t able to get a picture of the full share, so what you see is just our half. The list, though, is the entire amount. We got: five pounds of Big Beef and Pink Girl tomatoes, one pint of Sungold tomatoes, one pint of mixed cherry tomatoes, one pound of green bell peppers, one jalapeno, one pounds of onions (white and red), and one pound of Japanese eggplant. The cherry tomatoes are beautiful – I love the yellow pears.

Full share from July 16, 2008.

I think it’s a little funny that there’s one jalapeno in the box each week, as if more than that would be way too much for anyone to handle. While it’s often advised to wear gloves while cutting hot peppers, I’ve never bothered and haven’t suffered from it. Yet. But I have suffered a lot from running the hot water when there are pepper seeds and stems in the sink. If you are cooking with hot peppers, please don’t do this!

Last year’s share: five pounds of tomatoes, two pints of Sungold tomatoes, one pound of Japanese eggplant, one pound of yellow snap beans, two yellow squash, one zucchini, one cantaloupe, and two onions (one white, one red). Check out those crazy eggplant!

Whoops. Just as I was getting back in the blogging groove, work intervened, and I spent three weeks doing practically nothing but. Working, that is. Hopefully things will slow down long enough for me to catch up a bit on what I’d wanted to post several weeks ago.

Full share from July 1, 2009

Anyway, here is what we received on July 1. Since we took the entire share last week, our friends got the full box this week, so I’m not on the hook for dealing with the first of the eggplant. Though I’m sure there will be plenty more later on… We (i.e. they) got: 1.5 pounds of Big Beef tomatoes, 3 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes, 1 pint of Sungold tomatoes, 1 pound of Japanese eggplant, 1 cantaloupe, 1 pound of green beans, and 1 pound of lemon cucumbers. I was sad to miss out on the sweet, sweet Sungolds this time. I grew Sungolds a few years ago, and I absolutely loved having them on-hand all summer.