Andrea the Gastronaut

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This week had me picking up my usual small 6-point share + my friend’s medium 12-point share. It was a lot to keep track of. My six points went quick. I got…

• Rhubarb (1 bunch)
• Shitiake mushrooms
• A bunch of carrots
• 1/3 lb of spinach
• 2 cucumbers*
• 1.5 lbs of sweet potatoes

…It appears I went 1 point over, as the mushrooms were 2. I’ll still need to get kale at a farmer’s market but I still have some from last week so it wasn’t priority. They were also out of salad mix by the time I got there so I’ll need to pick up more of that. Last week I took another bunch of garlic scapes and decided not to get any more this year because even if I freeze some and make pesto I’ve still got too many. Scape season appears to be over now. I also need to replenish my berries. Tomorrow is another farmer’s market… and so is Thursday. This time of year is awesome if you like fresh, local produce.

Eat well, be well.

CSA Community-supported agriculture, CSA, Everdale

Intended to post one last week but forgot after I remembered. Happens all the time with stuff.

Both weeks:

• Salad greens
• Swiss chard (last week’s was finished in a wheatberry salad)
• Kale (different variety this week)
• Raspberries

Last week: Shiitake mushrooms

This week: Garlic scapes

And those are my 6 points for a small share. Raspberries are 2 points for a small container. It makes me a little sad.

This week I stopped at the Trinity Bellwoods farmer’s market first. It was my first visit. Tuesdays are CSA pick up days and getting to both by 7 requires planning, I thought, especially when I don’t usually leave the office until 6. What it requires is getting out of the office earlier (I go in late after puttering around in the morning and missing rush hour as to not be packed tightly with other bodies on public transit).  I realized today that I’d been planning backwards and less efficiently anyhow. Once I realized this my transit plans came together. I left the office around 5:10, was at the farmer’s market by 5:30ish (a 15 minute streetcar ride from work after a short wait) and the CSA pick up location just before 6:30.

At the farmer’s market I picked up a pint of these:

Wild Blueberries are like crack but I rarely buy because of the sticker shock ($9!). If the first container was free they’d really have me hooked.

What else was waiting for me to buy? Cheese from Ruth of Monforte Dairy!  Monforte was selling at two farmer’s markets today. Ruth had someone selling Toscano and curds at the SickKids Hospital MyMarket earlier in the day. I went, didn’t buy. Instead I chose to wait until after work and buy Toscano and feta at Trinity Bellwoods. I don’t think they even had feta at SickKids and I’ve been craving feta for two days, since I made a big wheatberry salad on Sunday. I also find myself craving salt recently, and I’m not much of a salt craver. I think it’s a result of the heat and sweating.

This weekend if I can catch a ride I’ll see if she’s got halloumi at Brick Works. Grilled halloumi makes me happy and I hear that she’s got a cool little worker bee working it.

Dinner tonight: Farmer’s market eggs (albeit, no longer fresh and the dozen is down to one) scrambled with garlic scapes. smoked salmon, Monforte feta and Toscano. One bite of the feta made my mouth happy.

Also on the topic of the CSA: The weekend before last I redid the newsletter template so that it’s easier to work with as long as it’s still being done in Word. It’s a personal little victory. Text boxes FTW.

Eat well, be well.

CSA, Food Community-supported agriculture, CSA

Rhubarb
Spinach
Arugula
Zucchini
rainbow chard
Garlic scapes
Kale
Cilantro (herbs are free)

I’ve been putting rhubarb in smoothies but intend to stew some. I’ve used garlic scapes in scrambled eggs, kale in smoothies and salads (it’s better if you steam it before putting in salad) and spinach also in smoothies and salads. Earlier this week I made a smoothie that included spinach, strawberries, rhubarb and lemon – among other things.

Here are some ideas for chard that I received from Hazon, sent to CSA Newsletter Coordinators. I’m one of three Newsletter Coordinators/Editors for my CSA, and we’re a Hazon CSA site.

• Wash the chard well to remove any sand or soil that may be hidden in the leaves.
• Wrap Swiss chard leaves around your favorite vegetable and grain salad and roll into a neat little package. Bake in a medium-heat oven and enjoy this nutrient-superstar alternative to stuffed cabbage.
• Toss penne pasta with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and cooked Swiss chard.
• Add zest to omelets and frittatas by adding some steamed Swiss chard.
• Use chard in place of or in addition to spinach when preparing vegetarian lasagna.

Obviously the first is the start to all the others. I’d like to try wrapping the leaves around filling as per the second suggestion.

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It appears that I didn’t do a CSA post last week. My haul was similar. From what I remember, I picked up some bok choy, salad greens, apples, strawberries and carrots. I don’t remember what else. I’d been hoping for totsoi because I’d put in back the week before in order to get spinach but there was none.

CSA Community-supported agriculture, CSA, Everdale, Harvest Share, Hazon, swiss chard

Here’s what I chose this week.

• Spinach (picked up at the last minute, after putting back tatsoi)
• Strawberries
• Mizuna (sounds like the name of a restaurant, and there are a number of restaurants with the name)
• Cabbage
• Garlic scapes
• Rhubarb

Photos from this week.

Interested in joining Everdale’s CSA with pick up in the Annex? Pick up is every Tuesday from 3:30 to 7. Get more information here.

CSA Community-supported agriculture, CSA, Everdale Farm, Harvest Share