Adventures with CSA Veggies – July 2016

By the beginning of July, I was becoming overwhelmed with vegetables from our weekly medium share from Gorman Farms Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). I was not eating all the veggies each week in June and the crispers were never empty. I was thrilled to have guests right after the 4^th of July; I sent home all the excess with them – filling the ice chest they had brought for the purpose.

I have strategies to keep veggies for a little longer: basil in a glass of water on the counter and

Greens (like carrot tops) in bins that I save from salad greens purchased in the winter.

Now when I see the board, I’m already thinking about what I’ll make. I’ve enjoyed make dark red (chocolate) pudding with beets and zucchini (summer squash since I pick the other colors than dark green if given a choice) bread already. Something as simple as slices of cucumbers and turnips with hummus makes a great summer snack (or meal).

We haven’t gotten tomatoes yet (maybe next week), but I was in the mood for something tomato yesterday and made an excellent soup with leeks, potatoes, summer squash, basil and carrot tops….in a spicy ‘spaghetti’ sauce. Yum!

I still may have to shred some of the summer squash to freeze for fall and winter baking before I pick up next week’s share!

Ten Little Celebrations – June 2017

As I look back over the month, I realize that there was a lot to celebrate.

Home. At the beginning of the month I had just returned home from helping my daughter move from Arizona to Pennsylvania. As usual – returning home was celebrated. I like to travel but coming home again always feels wonderful.

3 box turtles. I didn’t do a lot of hiking in June but was thrilled that it seemed like there were a lot of box turtles around…and I celebrated seeing so many. There were two along the path between Mt. Pleasant and the Patapsco River and the third was in the cemetery at Belmont.

Receiving the Carol Filipczak Award from Howard County Conservancy. Celebrating recognition for volunteering that is love.

Daughter on the east coast. Having my daughter living in the same time zone (rather than in Arizona) is something I am celebrating this month.

Kenilworth Gardens. Lotus, waterlilies, dragonflies, turtles, birds, magnolias…so much to celebrate.

Milkweed flowers. I had so many milkweeds come up in my front flowerbed that I had to cut some of them down….but I cut the globes of flowers first and enjoyed them in a stir fry (after boiling them twice to remove the toxins). Celebrating the taste of wild food!

Peach preserves. Not sure why – but I couldn’t resist it in the grocery store and I am celebrating the decision. I’ve spread it on toast and whisked it into a homemade salad dressing. Yum!

Volunteering at Wings of Fancy. Having butterflies flying around while I’m volunteering at Brookside Gardens…a constant celebration. So beautiful.

CSA. I’m celebrating the fresh veggies from the Gorman Farm Community Supported Agriculture. It’s easy to eat enough veggies when they taste so good!

Photography with summer campers. I am already celebrating the photography with summer campers that I’m doing for the 3^rd time this summer. I’m in the prep stages but am anticipating the flurry of having 15 or so campers (at one time…a total of 5 groups eventually) all enthusiastic about photographing the natural world around them is going to be one of the highlights of the summer.

Celebrating the CSA Season

The season for our local Community Supported Agriculture (Gorman Farms) has begun! I selected to pick up my share on the first day available each week and went during the first hour of opening. A lot of other people did the same. Cars were coming and going almost constantly while I was there – not crowded but a steady flow.

I cleaned out the crispers in my refrigerator before I went and was glad I did. There is a lot of green with a few hints of red: lettuce, chard, garlic scapes, tatsoi, pac choi, scallions, kale, and oregano. I chose an extra head of lettuce as my overage item this week since I decided to just enjoy big salads – maybe take off a pound or two while eating the bounty of early summer lettuce.

I saved bins from buying salad greens during winter so I have plenty to use for storing the cleaned lettuces from the CSA for at least a week.

The first meal was a big ‘garden’ salad.

The second meal will be scrambled eggs with garlic scapes – one of my favorite meals after the first CSA distribution of the season. This is my 4^th year for enjoying CSA produce and garlic scapes are one the favorite ‘new’ foods the CSA has provided.