CSA: Week 1

School is out for the summer! And now that I have some time to myself again, I'll report on life here in Dayton.

Dan and I, along with our friends Mike and Mary, joined a CSA this summer. A CSA, for those of you who don't know, stands for Community Supported Agriculture. We sent a farm a check before the growing season began, and they use those funds to operate their farm. Then, every week from May to September, we get a crate of fruits and veggies, which we split between the two of us. It's a great way to support local farmers without the hassle of winding my way through the Second Street Market every week. It also forces us to get creative with veggies that I wouldn't usually buy.

So this Wednesday, I stopped by the pick-up location and met George, a guy with dreads who I assume to be the farmer. He handed me a crate filled with this stuff, which we split, as best as possible with M&M:

A bunch of garlic greens
Green onions
Swiss chard
Chinese cabbage (all ours)
Boston Lettuce (all theirs)
Strawberries (mostly theirs)
Granola (all ours)
1 dozen eggs

He assured me that the crate will fill up with additional veggies as the season goes on, but after all the rain we've been having, they are still light on produce. That's why we got the homemade organic granola and the farm-fresh eggs.

So, how am I doing on using things this week? Well, so far I really haven't (oops!). Dan ate the granola for breakfast, so that's gone. I used one green onion in my quesadilla yesterday. But here are my plans for the rest of it.

Sunday: Eggs & Bacon for breakfast. (I love farm fresh eggs. They are infinitely better than store bought.)
Garlic greens pesto (They had some on the table when I picked up the crate, and their newsletter provided the recipe. It was delicious and a very vibrant green.)
Monday: Stir fry with the Chinese Cabbage and Green Onions
Tuesday: Something with the chard! Maybe this, although sometimes the texture of sauteed spinach grosses me out and it's kind of the same sort of things. And by that time, our chard is 1 week old. But we've to eat it. I'll let you know how we use it up.

Coming Home

Last week, Dan and I went to the Outer Banks, NC, for a family trip to the beach. It was a lot of fun and quite relaxing. I'll post some pictures and stories from that trip, but I have more pressing things to share.

Sunday, when we got home, our fridge was barren. Empty, except for the end of a half-gallon of milk and the ever-present condiments. When Bruce and Sue dropped off Gram, we ordered Chinese take-out, so we were saved for the night, but the next morning the reality of our empty fridge struck: I found a piece of bread in the freezer to make toast and Dan used the last cup of milk for cereal, but other than that, we really needed some food.

I've been hoping to find fresh produce somewhere besides Giant Eagle, so I googled "local produce" and "Gibsonia, PA" and landed on a website that pointed me to the Dillner Family Farm, located up the road. They do a CSA program, which I'd like to try some year, but they also have a farm stand. I drove the several miles to the farm and was instantly in love. It's a serve-yourself and pay-before-you-go kind of place, and it was FANTASTIC.

I bought fresh lettuce, $2.

1 bunch of onions, $2.

1 head of fresh garlic, $1.

4 red tomatoes, first of the summer, $2.50.

1 pint of unshelled peas, $2.50.

1 container of thyme and 1 container of rosemary, $2 each.

2 quarts of ripe strawberries, red through to the center, $7.

And, just because I could, 1 zucchini, $1. It wasn't on the list, but it looked so delicious, so fresh, so summer-y that I just had to. So I did.