CSA week 23 2020: it’s the end of our CSA season. Alas, summer doesn’t last forever, and neither does summer’s produce. We definitely have a fall distribution this week.
Our farmers at Dancing Meadows Homestead are already planning ahead: they’re taking subscriptions for next season’s CSA – and I’ll certainly be signing up for both the early ‘spring baskets’ and for the regular season: that’ll be 23 more weeks of food fresh produce.
This week in our basket:
- 3 big green heirloom tomatoes plus some smaller ones
- Swiss chard
- 1 quarts mixed young lettuce
- the last of the green beans
- watermelon radishes
- celery
- and 4 local apples
ideas for the week ahead
- I’ll let the tomatoes ripen a bit on the counter, and then roast them with garlic for a chunky sauce
- green beans: steamed, with mixed herb butter
- watermelon radishes: those might just get pickled, to use in banh mi sandwiches
- chard: I’m thinking creamed chard next to a Sunday roast, or possibly an autumn lasagna with chard, sausage, and squash
- the celery will find its way into soups and stews
- apples: oh, we’re already eating them!
For those considering CSA membership, there are some changes it will make in your kitchen life: you’ll be eating local and seasonal produce, and you might not know what will be in your basket each week. Instead of making a list, then visiting the grocery store to fetch ingredients, you’ll get a basket each week, and then need to decide what to make from the produce. Once you get used to that, it’s fun.
Our farmers have also made some changes this year to reduce uncertainty: they ask us for our preferences each week! That means we can choose: zucchini, yellow summer squash, or cucumbers? Okra, or not? Lettuce, spicy mix, or chard? By giving us some choices, they not only have direct feedback from members, but we have some say in exactly what gets into our distribution. This is a win-win, and something I like a lot.
Let me finish with a gallery of our week’s produce for the entire season. These photos show what came to us in each of the 23 weeks of our “spring basket” (1st 6 weeks) and “full season, quantity 1 peck”. I think you’ll agree that it’s a whole lot of good eating!
