CSA Week 1
We got our first harvest from Town Farm Organics, the CSA we joined this year, on Tuesday. (You can read more about it here.) This is what was in our bag:
1. Lavender plant
2. Sage plant
3. Zinnia plants
4. Snapdragon plants
5. Summer savory
6. Cut sage
7. Beet tops
8. Sprouted lentils and mung beans
And the great big bag in the middle is two different kind of lettuce (red leaf and something else).
It’s early enough in the season that my half-share was the same as a full share (in the future I will get more variety each week but less of each thing). The potted plants were a super nice surprise – now I have fresh sage any time I want it – I plan to try a potato, sage and rosemary pizza (recipe) and grilled tomatoes stuffed with goat cheese and sage (recipe) – and I planted the zinnias and snapdragons in my garden. I have no idea what to do with the lavender, besides make those little satchels that are supposed to make your underwear smell nice – AS IF THAT IS AN ACTUAL CONCERN OF ACTUAL PEOPLE – so suggestions are welcome.
So far I’ve eaten about half the lettuce in salads and sandwiches and used the savory and sage when I cooked a chicken. (Which I am sure would have been delicious had it actually cooked all the way through. The recipe was for a whole chicken cooked on the grill, but even at 2x as long as the recipe called for it was still raw in the middle. I’m blaming the grill. We had burgers instead.) I plan to saute the beet tops with a little butter and Parmesan for dinner tomorrow but I am totally at a loss as to what to do with “sprouted” mung beans and lentils. Google tells me HOW to sprout them and that they’re SUPER nutritious and an GREAT IDEA…but all their serving suggestions involve just tossing them in a salad and I don’t think I’ll be able to trick anyone in my family into eating them that way.
Obviously this one bag of produce doesn’t cover the full cost of the CSA for summer but even if we only got this much stuff each week between now and October we’ll have saved over $300 on fresh, local, organic food. That’s money I can spend on other stuff, like chocolate or electricity to power these air conditioners or a plane ticket to San Diego. Thanks CSA!
Tags: csa, ideas, produce, recipes, town farm organic, vegetables
I have wanted to join a CSA for a while to give us some variety. They aren’t as easy to find around here as I’d hoped, though.
And what DO you do with lavender?
Lavender is a great landscaping plant. Its evergreen and it will spread. I had two plants about twice the size of yours last summer that are now the size of kickballs. Everything looks wonderful! Enjoy!
Thank you! I have it in a planter pot right now but I’ll move it to the garden at the end of the season. I had no idea lavender was evergreen!
In theory you can eat lavender too, but I’m not such a fan… And you probably already know this, but sage can be an antigalactaglog (however you spell that) – effects everyone differently, but for me it totally cuts off my milk supply, which was really alarming the first time I had some while nursing Nora! I can’t wait to have sage again, I love it…
Wow, I did NOT know that about sage. Although mostly, I wouldn’t mind a little less milk supply (she says while wearing a shirt with two big wet circles over her boobs). I’ll definitely limit my sage consumption. Thanks Sarah!
you can put the lavendar in your water…some of my friends do that. i dried mine and put it in a doll i made Rory, to make her smell pretty. also, a friend is supposed to be giving me a lavendar scone recipe. when i get it, i’ll forward it to you! i’ve been thinking of soaking some lavendar in vodka and trying to make my own extract…i use a lot of lavendar essential oil in beauty products i make. oh, and i’ve heard of people putting lavendar in hot water for a foot soak…need to do that soon!
that is such a neat idea!!
Oh, and there’s a great lavender syrup recipe on http://cocktails.about.com, that you can use to make adult drinks. i’m going to try it out myself :).
Every time I see mung beans, I think of Creed from The Office.
“I sprout mung beans in my desk. They are quite nutritious, but they smell like death.”
And there is your random Office quote for the day ;)
make lavender cupcakes!!! my favorite cupcake shop in seattle makes them and they are DELISH! that is awesome you signed up for a csa. you can never beat fresh, local, and organic! the produce market down the road from us has one and i have no idea why i haven’t signed up yet!! cant wait to see your bounty each week! :)
lavender is also good to keep away moths instead of the toxic mothballs. at least that’s what i was told and trust to keep my sweaters whole.
mung bean spouts, however, no idea.
Cora eats the sprouted mung beans and lentils as a snack-she LOVES them. We can hardly go near them at the farmers market because she gets so grabby. Maybe put a small bowl out for little E and see what happens!
Megans mom suggested toasting the sprouts with a little salt and pepper as a ‘crunchy’ type snack. I am totally putting the lavander in little sachets in my dryer to make my cloths smell nice instead of dryer sheets. Dogs really like it though, so use caution!!!! Mine will ROLL all over EVERYTHING that has been anywhere near the stuff!! I am sooo happy you joined with us!!!! Next week–Garbanzo beans!!
What Cheri said about the mung beans. I am going to try toasting mine tonight and see how it goes. Also, my mom has an entire lavender cook book, so just let me know what types of things you’re interested in. I know mom really likes to use it in roasted chicken, and I made a Martha Stewart recipe for Pepita (toasted pumpkin seeds) and lavender brittle this winter that was outstanding and delicious (and super easy). Oh, and I have a shop pattern for a knitted lavender eye pillow that makes a nice, quick gift. Also, here is a link to one of our favorite lavender farms in Sequim, Washington (the lavender capital of the US) with a instructions for cooking with lavender. http://www.purplehazelavender.com/cooking.html There is a link on there that leads to some recipes, and if you look at the “About Lavender” section, there are also instructions on growing and drying lavender and “Crafting with Lavender”. (P.S. I haven’t seen you in forever! We miss you guys.)