CSA Week 3

It was a good day!

One of my favorite things about the CSA farm is seeing families there together. Today the fields were full of parents and kids, picking berries, talking about how to spot a ripe one and brainstorming ways to use them up (lots of shortcakes in the works this weekend, it seems). This scenario repeats itself throughout the summer in the bean patch, among the tomato plants and between the rows of raspberries. I love the fact that it's time spent together, and also that Ryan's learning about where food comes from, and what good fresh fruits and vegetables look and taste like.

Here's this week's haul:

• 2 heads looseleaf lettuce
• 1/4 lb. arugula
• 3/4 lb. spinach
• 1 bunch kale (had a choice of kale, bok choi or collards)
  
• 1 pint snow and sugar snap peas (mixed)
• 2 1/2 quarts strawberries
• 30 stems Sweet Williams
• Assorted herbs (did not get)

Oh boy- the strawberries. Last week they were plenty ripe, but you had to hunt for them, peering into the middle of the plants and looking under the leaves. This week it took just minutes to pick our entire share- and we did it pretty much standing in one place. The berries are perfect- literally could not be better, in my opinion. There was a lovely strawberry aroma drifting off the field as we approached, and also in the car as we drove home with our berry treasures. Ryan and I immediately had some for lunch but there are plenty more...


As for the other items- I think the lettuces will mostly become our dinner salads, though I have one new "big salad" in the queue as well. The arugula will probably become part of a pasta dish. The bunch of kale is somewhat small; I'm thinking of doing a rustic favorite that is simply potatoes and greens dressed up with a little oil and vinegar- kind of a vegetable hash.

Stick around to see how it all turns out!