Second CSA pick up!

Man. This is awesome.

Arugala, turnips, spring mix, spinach, red lettuce, purple kale, spring onions, pac choi, beets, radishes, cucumber.

So. Pretty.


I'm not quite sure what to do with all these turnips and basil... Geez, they are beautiful, aren't they? I think that I may be encountering a crash course in preserving/canning produce.

In addition to the CSA bootie, I picked up a bunch of white radishes from Bolton's Farm. What was I thinking? I have a feeling that there will be radish salad in our very near future...

Speaking of Bolton's, the Blooming Glen is right down the street from them. I've combined our milk and egg pick up from Bolton's with the CSA pick up.

Okay. One final look at this week's score. I love looking at what I have "in stock" and going from there. Very empowering :-D

Green gobbling

I've been making salads for lunch using the CSA salad greens and gorgeous lettuce - yumm! Last night, I made Avery Cain this dinner:

Steamed spinach on a fried egg on a bed of salad greens
I made some garlic olive oil with fresh pressed garlic, fresh chopped basil, salt and pepper stirred into organic olive oil. I fried the egg in a tablespoon of the oil, and mixed the rest with a splash of lemon juice for a dressing on the salad.










(Would you like a helmet explanation?)

I have no idea what to do with the turnips - I'd like to use the turnip greens, too. Do I use them like I would collard greens? And, what about the radish greens, can I use them, too? Can I just steam them all and toss it with a diced potato and vinegar? Should I stir fry them? Ack!

First CSA pick up!

The first pick up at the Blooming Glen Farm CSA was today - one week early! Some of the crops were apparently inspired by the unseasonably warm weather :o)

The first booty from the farm included:

one bunch of basil
one head of red lettuce
one head of green lettuce
eight turnips
one bunch of radishes
3/4 pound of salad greens
1/2 pound of spinach
3/4 pound of kale

(Click on the image at right for a close-up.)

The first thing we noticed when we walked into the building was the smell of the basil. Deee-licious! There were a couple families on their way out, and inside, there was a man and a woman. Tricia (the farmer momma) showed us how the pick up process worked, pointing out a white board with the list of crops and the quantity each member should receive. Avery Cain and I split up the list and filled our canvas shopping bags. On our way out, we visited the children's garden where Avery played in the tepee. Fun!

On the way home we waved to Rosenberger's Red Angus cows (with their new babies!) and stopped at Bolton's to get milk and eggs. I think that the Bolton's stop will become part of the weekly CSA pick up routine - it's right on our way home :o)

Favorite CSA item of the week:
The lettuce. Never in my life have I seen a head of lettuce and remarked to those around me how beautiful it was. The lettuce is gorgeous. I'm not kidding - look!











It's so soft and pretty. Oh, and it tastes good, too :o)

Farm crawl

We've probably all done a pub crawl before, but how about a farm crawl? There were a few local farms that we've been meaning to check out, so I decide to head over to Rand McNally to put together a road trip where they have a very handy "Plan a Road Trip" menu option.

First stop
Blooming Glen Farm in Perkasie, where we made our payment for this season's community supported agriculture (CSA) share. For $710 for the entire season (from next week until Thanksgiving), my sister (Brookie), my dad (Dan) and JAM will pick up fresh, locally and organically grown produce. There are also monthly member potlucks and pick-your-own wildflowers. Of course, we'll be monitoring our share every week here. In fact, joining the CSA is what prompted us to start this webpage!

Second stop
Hendricks Farm and Dairy in Telford, where owner Trent Hendricks let us try about a gazillion different types of cheese. Hendricks is famously known for their raw milk, but we skipped the milk this time and instead bought three cheeses and some nitrate free uncured bacon. My sister also picked up some cottage cheese.

Third stop
Country Creek Winery in Telford, where we picked up some sweet wine to make Sangria. We also got to see the barn that they rent out - it's very cool!

And speaking of cool... Brookie put together an incredibly cool gift for Jason and me this winter. She collected a bunch of sangria recipes, typed them up with a personal message at the top of each one ("this one's spicy like Kayla" or "This one uses the pink wine Jason's mom likes") mounted them onto different colored card stock and decorated the book. Then, she collected common ingredients (apples, oranges, cinnamon sticks, red hots, wine, liquor, etc.) and a pretty glass pitcher and put everything in a big basket. How freaking awesome is my seester?! :-D

Jason had a couple friends over that night so, we used one of Brookie's recipes and the pitcher to make a simple sangria (apples, oranges, lime juice, orange juice, sugar) with the Country Creek wine, which we served with slices of Hendricks cheese, apple slivers and crackers.

The farm crawl was fun and it felt great to serve guests local treats! I'm working on our next crawl - stay tuned!