Final Week: Goodbye 'Til Next Year

Well, this was the last week of CSA veggies for the 2009 Summer season. I’m sad it’s over.

I’ll miss the veggies, of course. But, I’ll miss the experience, too. I really enjoyed those days when it was my turn to go to the farm and pick up for the group. For just a day it was nice to shed the suburbs, the corporate life, the cars and traffic; to get outside in the great outdoors; to mingle, although briefly, with the people who farmed and harvested the vegetables. For a few hours I’d walk the fields and pick my own beans, cukes, berries, apples, strawberries and kiwis. I’d smell the freshly baked bread sold in the barn (even though I can’t eat it I love the smell of home made bread). And, it was gratifying to see the baskets in the barn brimming with vegetables and fruits in shades of green, yellow, red, orange, and brown. I even liked dividing everything up and delivering it to my co-CSA partners in town.

And, that’s just the experience not the food. We ate beets, chard, kale, and so many other veggies for the first time this year. My kitchen and family experienced new recipes. Our diets were more nutritious and it seemed like everything tasted better.  The bonus—the food was organic.

So, will I do it again? Yes, definitely. I hope you’ll try the experience, too, if you have the opportunity.

Week 21: Kiwi

Can it be October 18 already? The weather is actually telling me it’s more like November. We had our first snow this week—big wet flakes that never accumulated on the still warm ground. Still, it came down for about an hour. I didn’t experience the usual glee I feel at the first sight of snow. It’s just way too early for this!

Fortunately, my trip to the farm was made in beautiful weather. I was able to spend some time picking more raspberries and then follow the signs up the hill, down an old road, and into the field where the kiwi grow. The kiwi plant looks like a cross between a vine and a small tree. They grow in an arbor setting so you walk beneath the canopy of green leaves to pick the gorgeous little fruit hanging down in clumps waiting for you. Kiwi, kiwi, and more kiwi!

I always thought they grew in warmer climates so was surprised to see them in the pick your own section of the large chalkboard in the barn. These kiwi, though, are not like the green ones you buy in the store—not like the New Zealand kiwi. They are small—a little bigger than a large grape—and greenish brown. Wash ‘em off and pop ‘em in your mouth. They’re citrusy, sweet, and wonderful! Big score!

There will be no kiwi recipes because IMHO they are meant to be eaten just the way Mother Nature made them.