it's the most wonderful time of the year.

It's the season for fresh from the farm produce, and it makes my heart oh so happy!  This year for the first time we joined a CSA.  I've wanted to ever since I saw how great they were in DC a couple of years ago.  If you don't know, CSA stands for Community Share Agriculture.  You buy a share of the farm and thus support a local farm.  You pay a fee for the whole season [ours is 25 weeks long!] and you get produce once a week from this farm.  It's really cool because you're forced to try some things that you normally wouldn't [bok choy and swiss chard anyone??], but you also get some delicious favorites like fresh-picked sweet-as-summer strawberries.  The idea is that the community shares in the bounty and struggles of that farm-- not to mention the farm-to-table benefits, the delicious food, and the connection of knowing the family who grew the food you feed your family.  That also makes my heart very happy.  As you know, I'm a huge farm-to-table fan!  I don't think a CSA is right for everybody, but for my produce-loving, fruit and vegetable consuming family-- it's a good fit. 
 
We found a great farm down here.  It's about an hour and a half away from where we live, but it's actually very close to Tommy's work.  We pick up on Thursdays just five minutes away from our house.  Thursday has come to be my favorite day of the week! I so look forward to what we're going to get each week, and it kind of feels a little bit like Christmas each week.  [I know I'm a huge nutrition nerd but I can't help it.]

 

 Week 1's bounty!  Oh I was so excited.  I have to confess, I wasted some of this by not using it.  It makes me very sad but I was not prepared to handle all of this produce.  We got broccoli, radishes, bok choy, garlic, red lettuce, swiss chard, and strawberries.  Can you see how red and beautiful those strawberries are??!  Be still my heart. 

I decided we had to use everything we got.  I'm done being wasteful.  [That was before I wasted half this week's produce].  So I googled swiss chard-- I learned about it and I found what looked to be a decent recipe.  It was actually really easy to make and the recipe included garlic, lemon, and top it with a little sea salt.  Sounds pretty good, right?  Honestly, it wasn't half bad, but I'm not a fan.  We tried it with the whole family.  Yes, I invite my who family to participate in my cooking adventures-- lucky them!  It got a surprisingly good response.  Tommy actually did like it; I would eat it if forced to.  But we're all glad we tried it.  

 This pork, however, is the greatest thing I've ever put in my mouth.  Ever.  And so super easy.  I should post that recipe sometime soon. 

I added some produce from the grocery store to my red leaf lettuce to make the most amazing salad ever created.  I had never had red leaf lettuce before and honestly, y'all, it tasted like it was coated in butter.  It was the sweetest, softest lettuce I've ever come in contact with. Bet you didn't think you would feel so uncomfortable  reading my blog, huh? 


We're in week 3 now, and you know I'll be blogging about this A LOT.  Happy FRIDAY everyone!