CSA Horray!
I was extremely enthusiastic about joining the West Harlem CSA. On the first pick up day, I wasn’t at the office and wouldn’t be able to make it, so I remined Karl about 2,836 times not to forget to stop off at the pick up at St. John Divine after work. He even strapped the paniers onto his bike to lug the veggie bounty home.
Except, well, it certainly wasn’t a bounty. My expected cornicopia was basically a few leaves of chard, some wilty looking lettuce, and a chive blossom (which was admittedly was sort of fanastic). I came home, bounding into the house searching for the goods and when I found them, I thought Karl was playing a trick on me.
Week two was equally disappointing. I walked over with my colleague and fellow CSA member, Daniel, with high hopes. I think we managed to keep our spirts up, despite the rather small allocation of mixed and mustard greens, but when we got to the half sprig of rosemary and the two emaciated radishes, all we could do was laugh in a sad clown kind of way and speculate that maybe our farmers were on drugs?
This week, Daniel and I walked over with low expectations. Only this week, it REALLY was a cornicopia. I skipped out the door with two heads of bib lettuce and a head of green leaf, a huge pile of crazy mixed greens (with tatsoi, mizuna, mustard greens and who knows what else), a giant handful of garlic scapes, two bunches of cilantro, probably a pound of kale, and two big bunches of radishes. All for about 10 bucks, based on my upfront investment.
Now I love my farmers and my CSA! I can’t wait for tomatoes and the other joys of summer coming our way.
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CSA…Holding out hope for Week 3.
Jess’s post gave Stephen & I some hope. About 2 weeks ago, we joined our local CSA (or PASA- in Pennsylvania). We arrived at this decision after weighing the pros & cons of spending around $20.00+ a week on produce alone from our local Co-op and/or Whole Foods. For many reasons, investing in CSA seemed like the best way to go.
Our Week 1 was June 20th. Stephen got home before me, but I made him promise to wait until I got off work so that we could go pick up the produce together. I have to admit that it was exciting…at first. Well, instead of a box of 10 pounds worth of summer’s bounty, we got a plastic bag into which a wilted/ beat up lettuce (like someone had been using it for a soccer ball), 3 leaves of chard (had to Google that one), 3 leaves of kale, and a 2 inch gherkin. Luckily, they also threw in a half a loaf of bread (which we devoured in less than 15 minutes), and half a dozen eggs. That kind of made up for the disappointment.
Week 2 wasn’t much better. Well, at least the lettuce wasn’t wilted. In addition to the eggs & bread, we got 3 little radishes, a bag of beans (yay!), a lone little zucchini, and a couple of rhubarb stalks (thanks again Google).
This week is our Week 3. No excitement, though. After rushing to pick up the first 2 weeks’ disappointing bags, I’ve casually left the task of this week’s pick-up to Stephen.
However, I’m secretly holding out hope. Could our Week 3 be like Jess’s? Is this when things start to change for the better? Is this the pattern of all CSAs? Hold out on the bounty until week 3? We’re keeping our emotions in check and just waiting to see what we get. We’re holding out hope, and our fingers are crossed. For although we’re not as excited as the first time, I must admit that there is still a tiny pang of excitement that sprouts up every time we ceremoniously reveal the contents of our weekly CSA bag.
Hi Genevieve,
Keep me posted.
I don’t want to rain on your parade, but the deluge of week three hasn’t really kept up. We’re still just dragging in a radish or two and some leafy greens that look a bit worse for the wear.
I’ve been assured that heartier veggies are on the way, but I’ve become a bit jaded with our farmers. I mean, how many limp collard greens can one girl (+Karl) eat?
Hi Jess,
Week 3 was far better than the previous weeks. Nothing exciting, but better. Homemade cheese has been added along with the occasional herb, lots of peas, and corn(this week).
However, I must admit that the overflow of zucchini & squash has left me at a loss for ways to prepare them. From zucchini/squash casserole, to zucchini frittata, to zucchini parmesean…..to this weekend’s special: Zucchini bread!
What else can we do with zucchini & squash?
Genevieve,
I can’t even express my ongoing disappointment with my CSA. I really think that my farmers are potheads who wake up at noon. Last week?? One head of bedraggled cabbage, one zucchini, and two radishes??? I’m not joking.
So, while I’m having a hard time feeling your abundance of zucchini I think you should read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. She has a funny chapter about the burden of the zucchini surplus, about trying to dump them on neighbors and friends. But she does have a recipe for zucchini chocolate chip cookies.
http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/Recipes.html