Summer finally appears to be here! Our CSA share was much larger this week, thanks to the warm, sunny days. When I piled it up on my counter, it almost completely eclipsed the toaster & toaster oven (yes, redundant appliances). It was great to see the first broccoli of the season. I’m excited about munching on that, especially since the broccoli plants in our garden are only about 3” tall right now.
What a great CSA bag this week! Tons of spinach, delicious strawberries, chard, and a bounty of asparagus. I made some yogurt to go with the strawberries, and I’m really looking forward to eating all the amazing greens this week.
This week’s share was much the same as last week’s – it will probably continue this way until the weather changes. (Come on sun – it’s almost July here!) This week I was excited to open our bag and find kale! Kale is a big favorite in my household because my husband absolutely loves Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana. We eat out more than we should, but we eat at Olive Garden very rarely. However, I found this great recipe for the soup, and with a few alterations it becomes a fantastically nourishing meal – I substitute homemade chicken bone broth or stock for bouillon cubes, whole raw milk for heavy cream, and make sure to used pastured bacon and sausage.
This is our second year in a row signing up for a CSA share with Pigman’s Organic Produce Patch. We signed up for a half share last year, and I was blown away by the quality and value, not to mention the ease that it brought to my weekly shopping and meal planning. A CSA, or community supported agriculture, is basically an easy way to buy farm-direct during the growing season. With a CSA, you pay an up front fee, usually at the start of the season or some time before the season begins.
