Tuesday's CSA Veggie Pickup

Tuesday's CSA Veggie Pickup was a little disappointing. I received one tote full of veggies. When the farmer mentioned in the weekly newsletter there wouldn't be much at the first Tuesday's pickup, I expected a little, but wow I didn't expect that little bit of food. Am I spoiled for expecting at least a little more?

In total I received 1 small cabbage, 1 bunch of dill, 1 bunch of radishes and 3 produce bags of mixed greens. In addition the drive was far (about 30 minutes), during traffic and finding the place was a little confusing at first. Had the drive been at a better time and had I not had my kids with me I would have tried to combine errands to save gas.

On a good note the radishes were beautiful big and red. The dill smelled great. Since picking up the veggies I have used the dill and radishes everyday (ex: tuna salad). I used the cabbage in a beef stew I made yesterday and on my birthday I made a delicious crunchy salad with the mixed green leaves, fried pork pieces, boiled egg, radishes, a pinch of fresh dill and a bunch of other veggies. It was all very tasty until I discovered that I didn't clean the leaves as well as I thought I did. I witnessed, what I thought were all the bugs wash down the drain. Still we found two bugs, a pretty green Caterpillar and a beautiful green live spider, in the salad during dinner.

We weren't disgusted, but I was very embarrassed. Had my in-laws been over, they probably would have never eaten at my house again. Wait....that could be a good thing! No, just kidding. Seriously, next time I will have to clean the lettuce better. I've been a city girl all my life and as I mentioned before I'm not a great cook. Someone needs to teach me all this stuff. To learn I sent an email out to the CSA group and asked for advice. I've been advised to soak the leaves. Bugs float and dirt sinks. I can handle that. I also asked how to keep the dill fresh and if someone lived in my area was willing to trade pickup weeks with me so we could save time and gas. It looks like I might be able to trade with another member. That's a relief. It will make this process much easier. If the two of us can find two more people, each one of us would only have to drive the distance only once a month.

One of these day I am going to have to visit the farm I am a member of. Maybe this summer. I would have loved to have visited the farm on Market Day, but its several hours away and between the kids and work, it isn't a possible trip for me right now.


I still can't understand why there isn't a local farm with a CSA program closer to where I live. Maybe one day.....