As 2009 comes to a close and I think of the things I am thankful for I have to include our CSA share. We eat a lot of fresh veggies from our garden in the summer months, but once winter comes around I feel less inspired by the selection of produce at the market and the price tag on the organics so we tend to go heavy on carbs for half the year. This winter Dave and I decided to joined a CSA. The Butternut Mountain Farm store in Morrisville is a pick-up location and since Dave works for the company that makes it pretty convenient.
So each week for the past few months Pete’s Greens has delivered a variety of squash, herbs, onions, garlic, leeks, celeriac, parsnips, beets, brussel sprouts, carrots, potatoes (I think you get the idea…), locally milled flour, oats, jams, cheeses, popcorn, tofu, fresh eggs, delicious breads from Elmore Mountain Bread, farm-made applesauce, pickles, coleslaw and sunflower oil, oh yeah, and did I mention greens?! We’ve had cabbage, kale, watercress, mustard & salad greens to name a few and all sorts of things I’ve never seen before. They even had pumpkin puree for us the week of Thanksgiving for pies. We receive an e-mail newsletter the night before each pick-up so we’ll know what we’re getting, but it still feels like a surprise when I see our bounty!
People always ask me what I do in my “off season” and I guess my answer to them this year would be something like, “figuring out what celeriac is and what I should do with it!” So far it has been both fun and challenging to try and use up all my produce in tasty and interesting ways. Garlicky kale with cornmeal pancakes, roasted beets, squash, eggplant & parsnips, pizzas with sauteed chard, and lots and lots of soups (I would also put my immersion blender on the list of things I am thankful for. I am not sure what I’d do without it!). It has been a real treat to see what comes home in our bags each week and I will be sad when it ends in mid-February. For now I will enjoy our local offerings for as long as they last and dream of rutabaga and radishes.
