Cooking Seasonally

Being a part of a CSA has taken on a whole new meaning to "eating your vegetables" for us. I've always thought we ate a lot of vegetables, then we started getting our weekly baskets from our CSA, I soon realized that I was mistaken on how many vegetables we REALLY ate.

The way our CSA works is you buy a "share" or a "1/2 share" at the beginning of a season. What you are seeing in the photo is "1/2 share" Each week I receive a basket of whatever happens to be ready for harvest and 1/2 dozen eggs...if the chickens are laying. (apparently the chickens don't lay as much when it's real hot or we have wide temperature variations, who knew?)

We decided to try this for a couple of reasons, first we wanted fresh local food, we wanted to do better with our food budget and the whole idea of getting weekly produce reminded my husband of the days growing up on his grandparents farm...back in the day, you ate what was growing out in the garden, days on his grandparents farm were good memories for him.

It's been about six weeks now and our eating habits are changing. Our meals are more "vegetable heavy" (a good thing, right?) and I have had to learn cook outside my comfort zone but we are loving it. I get an email each Thursday letting me know what's going to be in the basket on Saturday and I plan my meals accordingly. We see the same people week after week, often sharing stories and recipes, (what exactly ARE you doing with all your cabbage?) t's turned into more of an event than just picking up our produce.

I was told eating seasonally was a great way to get a wide variety of nutrients, you are always eating something different, this has been good for me, as I continue to try and rebuild my immune system. Another benefit is  my produce keeps for a longer period of time in the fridge because it's freshly picked, (with the exception of one lowly little turnip, I haven't lost anything.)

A CSA isn't for everyone, you and your family have to like vegetables, be willing to learn how to cook new things, and you have to be willing to cook at home most of the time. It has worked for us, but I have really had to keep on top of it, I'm always aware of what's sitting in my fridge, knowing there will be more coming on Saturday...I better get cooking. I'll be sharing recipes from my basket throughout the summer.