Posts Tagged ‘CSA’

U-Pick & CSA Farm Day

Saturday, July 24th, 2010
Blueberry Verbena Cooler Cocktail

Blueberry Verbena Cooler Cocktail

Today I’ll be heading out to the nearby farmlands of Carnation, Washington for an annual visit to our CSA farm. After about a 45 minute drive from our home within the city limits, I’ll be standing on the rich earth that produces our local, organic produce all summer long. And, I’ll be chatting with Cathryn, the woman who owns and runs Summer Run Farm, which is one among a few that work as The Farm Girl Collective to produce the bounty we bring home – for relatively cheap – each week during summer. I love getting the chance to visit the land where so much of our food is grown, to walk the country fields on a summer day, to smell and hear the sounds of the natural creek running with cool, fresh water off the nearby Cascade Mountains. And, as an extra special treat, Cathryn puts together her open farm days when her neighbors’ U-pick blueberry farm is open for the season. That’s today!

Although I grow quite a lot of food in my own garden, including blueberries, there’s really no way I could produce enough to feed us from this lot. Well, maybe that’s not true, but as a lover of all things horticulture and as a believer in diversity, I want a few trees, shrubs, perennials and patio spaces to enjoy as well. So, my urban farming spaces have their suburban-living constraints. I can grow plenty of berries to toss into oatmeal or snack on as I weed, but I can’t produce enough to make jams or a big round of these delicious cocktails we invented last year after our U-pick visit. Although I could have purchased a flat of non-organic, relatively local berries at the market for about $8.00 yesterday or I could order pre-picked berries from the u-pick farm for about $4.25/lb, I find some satisfaction in picking my own right off the bushes, and paying $2.60/lb for my efforts. And, yes, these are local, organic berries!

Now, before I head East to the farm, I’m snipping a batch of lemon verbena and making up a simple syrup to cool. I know when we get back — all hot and dusty from the farm — my picking partner and I will be ready to relax on the patio with a cool berry-licious cocktail. And, I know this one is just the ticket! (more…)

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365 Days of Garlic from the Garden

Saturday, June 19th, 2010
Cured Hardneck Garlic Ready for Storage & Cooking

Cured Hardneck Garlic Ready for Storage & Cooking

I can now say that we have successfully made it a full year without buying garlic. My spring garlic scapes began emerging a couple of weeks ago, just as I was finishing off the last shriveling, browning soft neck cloves stored in the cellar. In the fall of 2008 I planted a selection of hardneck seed garlic into large, movable nursery tubs used in the past for trees and large shrubs. In the spring of 2009 — around Solstice — I began harvesting garlic scapes for cooking. That’s when I stopped buying garlic at the farmer’s marke, let alone at the grocery store. Later in summer, I began harvesting, curing and braiding the bulbs themselves, which we have been using until just this week — timed perfectly to the arrival of this year’s scapes! Our next goal is to see if this year’s harvest can take us through yet another 365 days without needing to buy more garlic for the kitchen.

Because garlic grows for almost 9 months before being harvested and cured and because I don’t have a large farm to work with, I chose to grow it in containers instead of in the ground. Using this method, I am still able to produce enough garlic to feed to us through the winter. And we eat a lot of garlic! Growing this way, I may harvest slightly smaller cloves since they are packed into the containers, but I still reap a good sized harvest. Too, by using containers, I can move the the garlic around the garden to capture ideal sun, which travels the horizon much differently in the dead of winter than in the brilliance of late spring. And, I can easily protect the spring plants from rot-inducing rain and cold by rigging up temporary hoop houses. Too, garlic can benefit from reduced watering as the bulbs begin to cure. By keeping it in pots by itself rather than mixed into my beds with other plants still begging for supplemental summer water, I can control the needs of both the thirsty crops and the curing garlic by segregating my stinking rose into containers.

Despite appreciating the long-storing capacity of soft neck garlics and how easy they are to braid, I’ve found they’re more difficult to grow successfully than hard necks. Plus, they don’t offer up delicious scapes in spring, and I find them tough to peel. In Fall of 2009, I planted a mixed selection of garlic in tubs again. I skipped the elephant garlic, which simply rotted out in my 2009 crop. And, I did try one variety of soft neck. Most of that has rotted as well. To be fair, it’s been a really cold and wet spring in Seattle in 2010. However, the soft necks were the first to have problems in my current crop. Yet, the hard necks continue to do great.

So what’s the difference between a hard neck and soft neck garlic? (more…)

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Posted in Edible Gardens, Recipes, vegetable gardening | 1 Comment »

Garden Coach on Community Supported Agriculture Programs

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

I’m so appreciative to live in a part of the world where delicious, local, organic, sustainable agriculture is readily available to me. Each week, year-round, I can visit any number of farmer’s markets in the greater Seattle area any day of the week. Not only can I purchase fruits and veggies, but whole grains, fresh fish, delicious meats, eggs, honey and all sorts of great dairy are offered in these fun, friendly environments. Sure, offerings get a little spotty in winter, but the point is, they’re still available. And this time of year, summer? Well, the smorgasbord is unbelievable.

Caption

Summer Run Farm Stand at the Ballard Farmer's Market

Last summer, a year when my own garden harvest was less than ideal, I found myself buying loads of fresh veggies each week to eat and even more food to preserve for winter. As I was filling up bag after bag of potatoes from one of my favorite vendors, Summer Run Farm, I spied farmer Cathryn’s sign up form for her 2009 Farm Girl Collective CSA program. In the end, after watching one of her 2008 clients empty his weekly box into his bicycle bags and seeing all the great food he was getting each week for what amounts to about $28, we signed up and prepaid for 2009 in October of 2008. By paying early in the year prior to pick up, our funds help the farmers get through winter, procure supplies, and make various repairs to their farms.  Even if you haven’t signed up for a CSA yet, many still accept members at pro-rated prices, mid-season. Read on for more details on CSA programs, where to find them, what comes in a CSA box, a lemon-blueberry cocktail recipe, and more…

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Posted in CSA, Cocktails, Edible Gardens, Food, Recipes, Sustainability | 5 Comments »

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

As regular readers know, I’m an avid patron of my local farmer’s markets. I try to grow as much food as I can and then supplement with as much locally grown meats, produce, cheese, eggs, fish and so forth as possible. In my small residential plot, I don’t have enough room to produce enough food for our family of two. I suppose I could join a local community p-patch program and try to grow more there. But honestly between working in my own garden and being a professional garden coach, I don’t know that I could keep up with another plot of land. So, I plug in food items in every nook and cranny in my garden as possible. And, I shop locally.

Last Sunday at the market my regular vegetable supplier had forms to join her CSA group. She has many regulars and was accepting just a few more applicants. I peered into a CSA box that one of her patrons was picking up. For $25 a week, paid in advance, he got a fantastic box filled with a braid of garlic, several onions, a huge bag of lettuce greens, another huge bag of braising greens, a pie pumpkin, a big bag of potatoes, a bag of brussel sprouts, and a string of brilliant red thai peppers to dry. I grabbed a form and told her I’d be in touch.

I went home and did the math. Really, with prices increasing and my regular attendance at the market guaranteed, it just made sense to sign up. My husband agreed. So, today I mailed off a check for $450 that will get me a weekly box of produce from June through October of next year. I know I’ll supplement my box with other farmer’s market selections and from my own garden. My box doesn’t provide fruit (okay, it does have fruits that we call vegetables like tomatoes, but not sweet stuff like berries and apples), so I’ll be foraging through the market for that. But, still, that’s part of the fun of visiting the market for me!

The food comes from a community of organic, local farms that work together to provide fantastic food to the community. I buy farmer direct, so unlike organic delivery box services, I cut out the middle man. Essentially, I buy into the community of farms directly. I like this. I may not have the time or the space to farm, but in a way my check means someone will be farming specifically for me — not for Safeway or a big distributor or a small distributor. It makes it feel, well, and actually is, just a bit more local and personal. And, it’s cheaper! I called a good friend who buys from an organic delivery service. She pays $35/week for her “large” box. So, $10/wk to have it come to my door? Hmmm…I’d rather visit the market myself. Plus, I don’t know that hers is all local. I’ve seen an orange or two show up in her box from time-to-time, and I guarantee those aren’t grown in Western Washington!

Want to learn more about CSAs:

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