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| I, of course, got the prettiest one |
Hole-ly crap, I am drowning in vegetables. The inside of my refrigerator looks like a tropical jungle with every shade of green possible. All because I joined a CSA. And because I just
know you'll ask, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. And because I know you'll ask
again, here's how it works. You pay a local farmer upfront for a share of the harvest through out the summer. Or at least that's how it usually works. The CSA I joined is a little bit different. While they do prefer people to pay in advance, they give the option of paying once per month with cash or plastic, OR (and here's why I joined) weekly with foodstamps. For a mere $21 a week I am provided with a beautiful canvas bag overflowing with goodness. Local, Spray free, seasonal, fresh, and mutually beneficial. This particular CSA is run by
Global Gardens, part of the Idaho Office for Refugees. All of the food is grown, in and close around the city, by refugee farmers tending small urban farms.
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| Week one |
Last week I was graced with: 2 head of lettuce, a bag each of spinach and arugula, bunches of radishes, scallions and cilantro, a small bunch of kale, and a good sized head of bok choi. This week it's: 2 heads of lettuce, bunches of radishes, carrots and cilantro, a small bunch of turnips, some collard greens, 2 purple kohlrabi, a bag of spinach, a tiny bag of broccoli and some young garlic.
They also have arraignments with other farms so there are a few optional add ons. For $60 per month you can get 10 pounds of naturally raised meat (beef, pork, or a mix), for $9 per week you can get 4 pounds of organic fruit, and for $6 per week you can get all natural frozen pizza dough. I signed up for all of the above.
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| Week two |
I am really enjoying cooking with all of this fresh goodness. This is my first year of making a real effort to eat seasonally and I am really enjoying it so far. I was so excited to find out there was going to be bok choi in the bag last week. I LOOOOVE bok choi. Naturally, I made stir fry. ok ok ok, I can't really call it stir fry, 'cause there was very little frying involved. Thai style veg and tofu is more like it. I tossed the scallions, some garlic and ginger, and a wee bit of red curry paste in the pan for a quick fry. Then I added brown sugar, coconut milk, tofu, broccoli, zucchini, red pepper, bok choi, and radishes. At the very end I snipped in the cilantro and served it with rice and sriracha.
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| this little guy nearly became stir fry |
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| I even have the proper utensils to eat it with |
