My dad grew up on a farm, and I've been intrigued by the idea of joining a CSA, but my travel schedule has always made it tough to commit to a weekly pick-up date.
Imagine my delight when I spotted an ad in the Yankee Flyer for a CSA in my area that offers free delivery in my town. What really sold me on Dineberg's Farm CSA, though, was Farmer Karl Dineberg's delightful Facebook page, where he builds anticipation by posting updates on what's being planted and sharing photos of fledgling plants for fans of the farm to identify (not an easy task!).
By the time our first of 12 weekly veggie deliveries arrived on June 24, 2010, my husband and I couldn't wait to experiment in the kitchen. The CSA concept doesn't just benefit small New England farmers and help them to sustain the region's agricultural traditions. It promotes healthy eating. In the past five days, I have consumed more daily servings of vegetables than I probably have since my mom stopped feeding me Gerber strained peas. So, I decided to share our Veggie Odyssey with you this summer. Hopefully, we can inspire you to shop at a New England farmers market, try some new vegetables, and cook some of the recipes we discover or devise as we attempt to make the best use of our CSA share.
June 24, 2010
Our first challenge: How to cook pea shoots and tendrils, a vegetable we'd never heard of, much less tasted? Here's the quick, easy pea shoots recipe my husband prepared. If your kids shy away from veggies, you may be surprised when they start eagerly munching these tender leaves and vines. We were!
