The Suburban Herbivore

Full share from April 28, 2010

Wow! This is my fifth year as a CSA member! I’m super-excited about the coming season for several reasons.

One, my feeble attempt at a vegetable garden last summer was pretty much a fail. I only had a 4X4 plot, and though it was in the sunniest part of our yard, it just wasn’t enough. I got a few tomatoes and cucumbers, and some basil, but it wasn’t a particularly productive garden. The hot peppers that I planted in pots on the back desk did pretty well, though.

The second reason I’m looking forward to my weekly shares is that we’ve had some changes in our family’s financial situation. Getting in a batch of produce each week that was paid for a long time ago is going to be a huge plus in meal planning and saving on groceries – something that I’m planning to start blogging a little more about in general.

I have to say, I wish there were more strawberries this week. As in previous years, we are splitting this share with another couple, and half a pint of strawberries is pretty much just a handful. (But they were delicious!) Here’s what we received: one big bunch spinach, one pint of strawberries, two baby bok choi, one big bunch turnips, one bunch French breakfast radishes, and two enormous heads of lettuce – one Romaine, one red-leaf.

I feel compelled to periodically remind the readers that my husband and I are splitting this share with another couple. What you see in the photo is the full share, and we are just keeping half of that. I like to include everything in the photo to illustrate the wide variety and quality of produce that we are getting from our CSA.

Full share for June 3, 2009.

Here is this week’s produce: one pint of strawberries, two yellow squash, one zucchini, one bunch of leeks, one bunch of orange carrots, one bunch of beets, one bunch of kale, three cucumbers, and some basil. Happily, we have more strawberries, though this will definitely be the last week. I have some cucumbers of my own growing in a tiny little garden that I carved out this spring (more about that later), so I suspect there will be pickles in our near future.

This is week 4, a particularly colorful week! With the appearance of yellow squash, the summer vegetables begin. I refuse to make squash casserole right away. I’m going to use the squash in something else. I’m guessing that this is the last of the strawberries. I definitely need to start thinking about these beets, though they will keep for a while. It has been interesting, if challenging, getting different varieties of beets.

Full share from May 27, 2009

Here’s what we got: one head of lettuce, one large cauliflower, two zucchini, three yellow squash, one bunch of scallions, two pints of strawberries, one large bunch of Forona beets, one bunch of parsley, and one bunch of yellow, orange, and purple carrots. The parsley is a variety called Giant of Italy, and surely, the leaves are huge (for parsley, anyway).

The strawberries are still coming in strong, and they are getting sweeter. (If there is a lot of rain while they are ripening, the berries will taste a little watery and not as sweet.) So far, the produce has been wonderful. I’ve really been enjoying all the lettuce – we’ve been having salad almost every night. Salad before the meal, that is. I’m rarely able to eat only a salad – it’s just not substantial enough for me.

Full share from May 20, 2009

This week: two pints of strawberries, two heads of lettuce, one bunch of scallions, one bunch of purple, yellow, and orange carrots, one bunch of Chiogga beets, one bunch of purple radishes, and two baby boc chois. In the photos, the radishes are on the left and the beets are on the right.

More greens this week, and some left over from last week. I’ve got to get a jump on that, because the beets will start soon, and then I’ll be completely overrun with greens. Fortunately, they cook down quite a lot, so you can have a giant mess of greens that reduces to a relatively small mess of greens.

Full share from May 13, 2009

This week’s haul: two pints of strawberries, two heads of lettuce, one bunch of scallions, one bunch of baby turnips, one bunch of dill, one bunch of Swiss chard, and the magical, once-a-year kohlrabi. Last year’s kohlrabi, I believe, went into a dish of roasted root vegetables. Let’s see what I can come up with for this year’s…

I’ve got some catching up to do. Not only am I way behind on updating for this year’s shares, I would still like to at least include the lists and photos from the rest of last year.

For 2009, we are with the same CSA as last year: Elysian Fields Farm. And again, we are splitting a full share with friends. I like to include the entire share in the photo to fully illustrate what we receive. But I am only responsible for cooking half of it!

Full share from May 6, 2009

The year was off to a great start with three pints of strawberries! We have to eat the strawberries right away as they spoil pretty rapidly. But generally, this is not a problem. We also got one bunch of red Russian kale, two heads of Boston lettuce, one bunch of French breakfast radishes (I don’t know what makes them “breakfast”, but they are long, pointy, and will be eaten at supper), one bunch of baby turnips, two baby boc chois, and one bunch of scallions.

And in share #6 of 20, the summer produce begins! Today we received yellow squash, zucchini, parsley, and… basil. I’ve been excitedly awaiting the arrival of basil. I love to use it in Thai dishes, as well as, of course, pesto. Once the tomatoes start, the easiest thing ever to make is a caprese salad. (More on that later.)

We also received beets, strawberries, broccoli, and a giant head of cauliflower. I think I’m going to need to bust out a roasted vegetables dish to go through the remaining beets and turnips. Or maybe we can grill them. Hmmm.

This was another banner week. Nearly all of the produce so far has just been exceptional. And, thankfully, we have a week off from lettuce, as I still have an entire bunch left from last time. We received several new items: yellow, orange, and purple carrots, as well as sugar snap peas. And, of course, broccoli, kale, cabbage, onions, turnips, boc choi, and the best batch of strawberries yet.

I already have plans for the broccoli, in the form of a tofu stir-fry. But I think I’m going to need to cook up another mess of greens this weekend. And probably some beet risotto. And maybe I can make some soup somewhere in there, too.

The produce is beautiful this week! We received swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, beets, broccoli, cabbage, and some lovely strawberries. This year, we are getting a full share and splitting it with friends, so fortunately, they took the cabbage and I am not on the hook for figuring out what to do with it. Generally, a half share is suggested to be a good amount for one to two people, and I’d say that’s right on. I think I’d have to quit my job if I was going to cook everything in a full share myself.

But I feel like things have not been going well here. I still have a entire head of lettuce and all the spinach (one pound) from last week. Plus the beets, radishes, and turnips, but I’m not as concerned about those. Perhaps if I eat salad for lunch and supper today, that will make a sufficient dent in the lettuce, and I might try steaming and freezing the spinach. At least last week’s spinach…

This week we received turnips, spinach, lettuce, onions, beets, radishes, and strawberries. The strawberries were perfect, much better-looking than the previous batches and equally as delicious. I’ve been anticipating the arrival of the beets, positive that this year I will come up with something different to do with them. I stumbled on a great recipe for beet risotto that, though it is kind of a violent fluorescent pink, is pretty tasty. But I’d like to come up with a new recipe. Any ideas?