News for a New Year

We are really looking forward to "growing" our operation in 2013.  Farmer Brent now has three years of growing experience under his belt and each season has brought more consistency and variety to the farm's offerings.  We started this whole operation with the goal of feeding ourselves and our neighbors and nothing has made us happier than helping supply the folks of Athens and Oconee with sustainably produced fruits and vegetables.  Our goals for this year center around making that produce easier and more convenient to get a hold of.  We would like to expand the days that the farmstand is open and also to provide delivery service to nearby households. We want to expand the number of participants in our CSA so that more people can experience eating seasonally.

These are big undertakings for a farm with only 1.5 full-time employees, but we are excited and ready for the challenge.  In order to get prepared for our 2013 goals, we will be taking a few weeks off from around mid-February to early March, which just so happens to coincide with the birth of our second child.  Our big CSA season, as well as the Athens Farmers Market season, will begin in earnest in April and we plan to hit the ground running.  Make sure to keep up with the weekly newsletter for information about joining the CSA, expanded farmstand hours and delivery service so we can include you wherever you'd like to fit in.  Thanks for your support over the last three growing seasons.  Looking forward to many, many more!

Red Curry with Vegetables

I am not proud of this picture, but it was all I could muster up after I completely forgot to snap some pictures while we were cooking and eating.  Do I get any slack for being pregnant?  That alone robs me of quite a few brain cells before we even get to the part about having an almost 2-year old entertaining me with periodic head injuries and a dazed husband with a nasty head cold.

Red Curry with Vegetables
1 tablespoon coconut oil
Medium onion, chopped
Medium turnip, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons red curry paste (like this)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric (read about the amazing health benefits of turmeric here)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
2 cups cooked lentils
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 bunch of kale, sliced in thin strips (or chiffonade as the pros call it)
1/4 head of cabbage, sliced in thin strips
2 cups cooked quinoa (You can cook in the microwave!  Wooooo!)
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin

Cook your lentils first; they take about 15 minutes.  About one cup dried lentils will equal out to two cups cooked.  Heat coconut oil over medium heat in large pot or dutch oven.  Add turnips and saute a couple minutes, add onion and saute until translucent.  Add in red curry paste, garlic, ginger and all spices and stir constantly (so it doesn't shellac itself to the pan).  Add in cooked lentils, tomatoes and coconut milk.  Cook for about 10-15 minutes.  This is probably a good time to cook your quinoa.  We did ours in the microwave which worked out beautifully.  Add kale and cabbage to pot and let cook down until both are soft, about another 3-4 minutes.   Just before serving, mix lime juice and cumin in with cooked quinoa.  Serve curry over the quinoa.

We added some Srirachi after we plated it up, which you could do while cooking.  Recommend keeping the heat neutral if you are sharing this meal with a toddler like we were!

This recipe was lovingly adapted from one by the blog Running to the Kitchen.

Easy Fried Green Tomatoes

I have never made fried green tomatoes before this week, so when I say this recipe is easy, I mean it.  I made it up and it worked the first time.  That's about as lucky as it gets!

Vegetable oil (amount depends on your pan)
1 egg
3 medium green tomatoes
2 parts cornmeal
1 part whole wheat flour
Pinch each of cayenne pepper, salt and pepper

Fill a frying pan (cast iron preferred) with enough vegetable oil to a depth of about 1/4".  Heat over medium heat.  Remove stems and slice tomatoes about 1/4" thick.

Whisk up an egg and place is small shallow bowl.  Mix cornmeal, flour, salt and spices in separate shallow bowl.  Your oil should be heated by now.  Dip each tomato slice in egg (both sides) and then dredge in cornmeal mixture (again, both sides.) Place in oil.  (We have an electric range which tends to make our food go quickly from gently frying to scorched, so you'll want to keep an eye on it.)  Fit as many slices in your pan as you can without overlap.  Flip when the underside is golden with spots of brown.  I keep a fork handy and just lift them from time to time to see how they're progressing.

Remove from pan when both sides have browned and place on paper towels to soak up excess oil.  If frying multiple batches, place plate in a warm oven.  Serve warm with a side of homemade ranch dressing or hot sauce.  

Krazy for Kohlrabi

(I couldn't resist spelling "crazy" incorrectly for the sake of this blog post.  Please forgive me.  I usually am quite embarrassed by spelling errors, but it was irresistible to me.  Must be how all those hair salons in tiny towns got named.  It's just too tempting to go with Krazy Kutz or Upper Kutz over the more traditional Cut n' Curl.)

Kohlrabi is a relative of both broccoli and cabbage and shares a similar flavor.  The flavor is more of an undercurrent in kohlrabi though, and there is a slight bite reminiscent of a radish.  Of course it's nutritious, packing in a healthy dose of fiber for its low calorie content.  It used to be quite a bit more common than it is these days, but you can still track it down this time of year in farmers' markets.  It grows really well in our climate with relatively few pest problems.

Kohlrabi 3-Ways

1.  RAW.  Done, easy.  Julienne these bad boys and toss them in your holiday crudite offering, or even better, put them in your kids' lunches.  They are crisp and snappy and make an excellent addition to salads.  This is our absolute favorite way to enjoy kohlrabi and the way we prefer to introduce newbies.

2.  STIR FRY:  Weeknight meals are the ideal time for stir-fry.  It's also a great way to use up your produce drawer before things start getting sketchy in there.  Chop into bite-sized chunks and throw in towards the end of your ingredient cycle to maximize crispness.  Kohlrabi is the perfect complement to cabbage and carrots in eggrolls too.

3.  ROASTED:  Did you really think I'd let an opportunity to mention roasting get away from me?  Roasting brings out the sweetness of kohlrabi (also an amazing way to do broccoli!) and it really shines with a light drizzle of olive oil and lemon.  It makes for a great pairing to heavier items like meats or carbs.  Also wonderfully adapted with olive oil, lime and cilantro as a garnish for fish.

Talking 'bout Turnips

Ah, turnips.  They used to be a staple crop around these parts, but they aren't likely to be gracing nearly as many dinner tables today as they did 50 years ago.  I'm not sure why turnips are suffering from lower approval ratings; they grow wonderfully around here and they really are quite tasty.   So in an effort to boost their acceptance back into our culinary line-up, I'm offering a couple of easy turnip recipes for a quick dinner or side item.

Creamy Turnip Soup
We were introduced to the basics of this recipe a couple weeks ago by one of the Athens Farmers Market's chefs.  We made up a big batch today and it was great.  Excellent paired with a crusty bread, like Miche's Country French loaf.

4 large turnips, peeled and cubed
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, diced
2 tbsp butter
4 cups veggie broth (we used vegetable bouillon cubes)
1/2 cup heavy cream

Heat butter in medium pot over medium heat.  Saute onions until translucent.  Add garlic to pot and cook about a minute more.  Add turnips and broth and dash of salt to pot and bring to boil.  Drop heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes.  Carefully transfer soup to a blender (or leave in pot and use an immersion blender) and blend until smooth.  Return soup to pot and add cream.  Add more salt if needed and pepper to taste.  Rosemary is an excellent addition to this blend.

Top with cheese if you like and serve with a side of bread.  You can top that with cheese too.

Mashed Potatoes and Turnips
Ok, so this is probably pretty obvious.  Sometimes we mash our turnips solo, but blending with potatoes is a good way to introduce turnip-newbies to the cause.

3 large turnips, peeled and cubed
7-8 new potatoes, washed and cubed (peeling is optional)
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk or cream
1 tbsp sour cream
Salt & pepper to taste

Bring water to boil in a large pot and add turnips and potatoes.  Let boil for about 20 minutes until fork tender.  Drain and return to pot.  Heat butter and milk in microwave for about 1 minute.  Add butter/milk mixture to pot and mash, using either a potato masher or whip with a hand mixer until desired consistency (we like half smooth, half chunky).  Once blended to satisfaction add salt & pepper to tasted and mix in sour cream.

Also delicious topped with cheese.

Life Changing Green Juice

I attended the Ladies' Homesteading Gathering Retreat this weekend and learned a lot about living well.  The Ladies' Homesteading Gathering is a group of women interested in the homesteading (read: trying to be self-sufficient) lifestyle.  It was a wonderful weekend of learning, fellowship and food!  I don't know that I could pick a favorite class, but I definitely found my new favorite snack, courtesy of juicer extrodannaire, Valerie.  She is a juicing advocate and an inspiration to all who aspire to consume more raw foods.  My favorite juice was one she calls Morning Metabolism Boost.  I modified it slightly to take advantage of things we had growing on the farm right now.

Valerie's Morning Metabolism Boost
2 cucumbers
2 stalks celery
2 apples
1 handful arugula
1/2 knob of ginger root
1 ounce apple cider vinegar (don't skip this!  It really brings the juice together.)
1/4 tsp cinnamon

You could also add a beet in there.  I tried that tonight and it was delish!

Homegrown for the Cure

Our very first event is THIS SUNDAY!  It's for a great cause and one that is very near and dear to our hearts, and surely a lot of other folks as well.  Parking will be available next door to the farm at 1041 Kenway Drive - there will be plenty of signage to let you know where to turn in.  Tickets can be purchased online ahead of the event at www.homegrownforthecure.eventbrite.com or you can buy them at the door.  Kids 12 and under get free admission and you can score them a kid's lunch plate for just $5.  Come out and join us!  The weather is supposed to be fantastic.

The Carb Loving Farmer

Featured in the very professional looking photo above is a typical Native Sun Farm family dinner.  We lovingly refer to it as "Southern Veggie" dinner, but basically it is whatever we have on hand from the farm.  As a carb lover, I always insist on some sort of vehicle for butter, aka a piece of bread.  Both of my favorite southern breads come from recipes adapted from the Betty Crocker cookbook.  Below I've listed a few variations that we really enjoy.

Buttermilk Biscuits
2 cups bread flour (sometimes I replace one cup with whole wheat flour)
1 tablespoon suger
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt (prefer course salt)
1/2 cup butter or shortening
1 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup plus one tablespoon whole milk)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  Mix dry ingredients in bowl with whisk until combined.  Cut in butter or shortening using a biscuit cutter (preferred) or two knives.  The mixture should look crumbly.  Add buttermilk or milk using a rubber spatula (or your hands!) to distribute evenly.  If dough is very wet, sprinkle with flour.  Transfer dough ball to a flour surface and knead about 10 times.  Over-kneading makes the biscuit tough and under-kneading makes for flat biscuits.  10 times seems to be the magic number for me.  Knead by gently pressing ball out flat, folding in half and turning over to repeat.  After kneading, press flat into an even circle about 1/2 inch thick.  Then either use a biscuit cutter or just cut into evenly sized pieces and place on ungreased cooking sheet.  Cook 12-14 minutes or until just brown on top.

Greek Yogurt Biscuits
I'm serious!  Admittedly, these are NOT as delicious as buttermilk biscuits but if you eat biscuits as often as we do, it is necessary to slow down on the butter intake.  The texture is a little different on these biscuits, but the flavor is great.

Simply replace the shortening or butter above with 1 cup of Greek Yogurt - I've used both full fat and low fat versions and haven't noticed a considerable difference, but keep in mind a lot of low fat versions use stabilizers to achieve the thick consistency.  Decrease milk to 1/2 cup.  Dough may be wetter.  Follow instructions for kneading and baking.

The crust on these is usually a bit crispier and the inside a bit chewier than buttermilk biscuits.

Cornbread
Betty Crocker refers to this recipe as "Yankee Cornbread", which seems to relate to the addition of sugar.  I personally think Yankee Cornbread is too sweet and Southern Cornbread is too plain.  I make mine half-Yankee and half-Southern.  We can just call it "Peace Treaty Cornbread".  I strongly recommend cooking this in an 8"-9" round cast iron skillet.
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 1/4 cup corn meal (You can buy locally from Red Mule)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  If using a cast iron skillet, melt butter on the stove and pour into mixing bowl.  Then your cooking vessel is already greased!  If using a regular 9" round pan, make sure to grease bottom and sides.  Mix butter, milk and egg in a bowl with whisk.  Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl until combined and then combine all ingredients together using a rubber spatula.  Pour into greased pan.  Bake 22-25 minutes.  Enjoy hot with butter and honey!

Sweet, sour and distinctly southern

Ever eaten a scuppernong?  We've noticed lately that a lot of folks around here haven't, and that's a shame.  Scuppernongs are a relative of the more commonly known muscadine grape.  They are larger than muscadines and greenish-bronze in color.  They grow really well here in the south and have been cultivated for more than 400 years.  They are often used to make wine, jams and jellies, but they are absolutely delicious raw.

If you are one of the many folks that has yet to try a scuppernong, make sure to try one when you stop by the stand or market.  Here are some tips on how to enjoy your very first scuppernong experience.

Get hands on:  Scuppernongs (and muscadines) have quite thick skins.  When you grab a 'nong, hold the whole thing in your mouth with your thumb and forefinger and bite down on the end until the fleshy insides "pop" out of the thick skin.  The "pop" is what makes this fruit so fun to eat.  You'll get a rush of sour sweet flavor.
Savor the flavor:  Scuppernongs are like table grapes on steroids.  They are thicker, heavier, sweeter and more sour.  You'll want to chew slowly so you can sort out the seeds from the yummy flesh.  It  won't hurt you if you swallow them, but they do impart a bitter flavor if you accidentally take a bite.
Give back to Mother Nature:  Like all the best fruits of summer, scuppernongs give back to the earth in the form of seeds and skins.  We believe they are best enjoyed on a porch where you can just toss the skins and spit the seeds, but they are actually quite delightful anywhere, as long as you've got somewhere to stash the debris.

Hope you'll consider giving this native grape a try!

Introducing Asian long beans!

(Disclaimer:  These are not Native Sun beans in the picture.  I had to nab a picture of the internet of this beautiful legume because my camera was not cooperating.)

This is an Asian long bean.  If you've been by the farmer's market or the farmstand lately, then you have already been introduced.  Its flavor isn't too far afield from your standard green bean, but it's string-less and it's beautiful!  I can't say that there is a right or wrong way to eat these beans, but I do have a few suggestions.

Don't be afraid to eat them raw.  As is usual in our household, we had our eyes opened to this practice by our son.  He thinks they are delicious raw and even I was swayed.  I prefer my raw beans cut up and placed atop a bed of arugula with a healthy dose of balsamic vinaigrette dressing, but to each their own.

Treat them like a southerner would.  What can I say?  I pretty much grew up in Georgia and I like a well-cooked bean.  I know it's not gourmet, but it is the taste of home.  Chop these bad boys into 1 inch sections and throw in a pot of boiling water with a little bit of bacon grease (or fatback!) and a healthy pinch of salt and cook until soft.  Bean enthusiasts are shaking their heads in disgust, but those of us that are sopping up the bean juice with a hunk of cornbread are quite content.  

When in doubt, roast!  I have a strong aversion to any food that squeaks when I'm chewing it.  This sometimes happens with green beans and I'm always on the look-out for how to avoid that unfortunate side effect.  Roasting has done right by me in this regarding.  A 450 degree oven, a roasting pan or cooking sheet lined with parchment paper and a generous dousing of olive oil and sea salt and maybe a seasonal herb.  Keep an eye on them until their skin browns and crisps, about 10 minutes at our house.  Pull them out and flip over with a spatula and roasts another 5 minutes or so.  Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and serve warm. 

Farmer Brent's Veggie Lasagna

We are very busy on the farm right now between the constant bean harvest and chasing down vicious squash vine borers, so the kind of meals we like are the kind that we can make on a lazy (rainy!) Sunday evening and enjoy for a few nights before we have to think too hard about cooking again.  That's what's so great about a big ol' batch of lasagna.  It taste just as good on Day 3 as it did on Day 1.  We use zucchini slices instead of lasagna noodles.  We've also heard that eggplant slices work really well as faux noodles. 

Farmer Brent's Veggie Lasagna

2 large zucchini, sliced thinly longways

16 ounces cottage cheese (could also use ricotta)

1 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 cup minced basil

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, diced

1 large egg

Salt and pepper

6 cups tomato sauce

1/2 onion, diced.

3-4 cups mozzerella (depending on your preferred thickness for the cheese topping)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (I refer to this temperature as "casserole temperature" - it seems like every casserole recipe since the dawn of time suggests this temp.)

Prep your zucchini by slicing thinly.  A grater or a mandolin is very helpful.  

Heat a sauce pan over medium heat.  Add a little olive oil and saute up the onions until translucent.  Stir in tomatoes and let heat up over medium-low heat. Mix cottage cheese, parmesan, basil, egg, sun dried tomatoes, 2 cups of mozzerella and salt & pepper in bowl.  Spread 1/4 of the heated tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9 x13 baking dish.  Place a single layer of zucchini slices on top.  Put 1/3 of the cottage cheese mixture down on top of zucchini and spread evenly.

Continue layering this way.  For the final layer, put zucchini down and top with remaining sauce.  Cover and bake for 15 minutes.

Pull from oven, remove foil and top with remaining mozzerella.  Continue cooking for 20-25 minutes or until cheese in browned.

Enjoy with a delicious salad!

Stuffed Zucchini with Barley, Sausage & Tomatoes

We've been growing these cool round zucchinis for the last couple of seasons and we really enjoy them.  They are great for your typical zucchini applications - sauteing, grilling or steaming - but their shape makes them extra fun for stuffing and roasting.

Stuffed Zucchini with Barley, Sausage & Tomatoes

1 cup pearled barley, uncooked

3 cups chicken or veggie broth (we use veggie bouillon cubes)

6 round zucchini, softball sized, hollowed out
1 sausage (we used andouille)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 small onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp ground cumin
6 tsps worcestershire sauce
1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar is tasty!)
Salt & pepper to taste

1.  Put 3 cups of broth (or 3 cups water with a veggie bouillon cube) over high heat to get to a boil.  Once boiling, add 1 cup pearled barley and reduce heat to simmer.  Set a timer for 20 minutes.
2.  Hollow out your zucchinis by slicing the stem end off and using your knife to cut a circular slit about 1/4" in from the outer edge.  This slit makes it easier to get a spoon in to scoop out the inside.  Try to maintain about 1/4" from the outside so the zucchini flesh will cook evenly.  Chop flesh and place to side.

3.  Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add sausage and crumble it as small as you can as it browns.  Once brown, set aside sausage but reserve grease.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
5.  Add butter or olive oil to pan with sausage grease.  Saute onions over medium heat and cook until translucent.  Add a cup of the chopped zucchini and the garlic and saute a minute or so more.

6.  Mix pearled barley, sausage, cooked onions, garlic & zucchini, chopped tomatoes, cumin, salt & pepper in bowl.  Place mixture inside hollowed out zucchinis using a spoon.  If you end up with extra, put in a container and use as a side dish for another meal or as goodies to mix in with an egg scramble.
7.  Place prepared zucchinis in a glass baking dish or cast iron skillet and put in oven.  Set time for 20 minutes.

8.  Pull zucchinis out and add a tsp of worcestershire sauce to each one.  Then top with shredded cheese.  Put back in oven until cheese has browned, about 10 minutes.
9.  Serve and enjoy!  These keep very well in the fridge for leftovers.

Mango Salsa with Fresh Tomatoes

We ate up most of the mango salsa before I thought to snap a picture, so this is the tail end of the batch.  It was delicious on top of fish tacos.  We pan seared tilapia after coating it in cornmeal and a little cumin and then finished the fish in a 400-degree oven.  We served the fish and salsa on corn tortillas with a hearty topping of greek yogurt sauce and chopped fresh cucumbers.  All in all - delicious!

Mango Salsa

1/2 sweet onion, diced tiny

2 cloves garlic, diced tiny

2 mangos diced, or about a cup of frozen mango thawed

1 medium tomato, diced

1/4 kohlrabi, diced (turnip works too!)

Handful of cilantro, chopped

1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tbsp olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Slice of lime

Put onion and garlic in bowl with vinegar, squeeze of lime and olive oil while you dice other ingredients.  The acid in the vinegar "cooks" the garlic and mellows out the flavor a bit.  Mix remaining ingredients in and let sit covered in fridge for at least 30 minutes.  Keeps for a few days in the fridge.

Curried Yogurt Sauce

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1 tsp curry

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tbsp white wine

Stir together and serve with tacos. 

Easy Cucumber & Tomato Salad

This recipe combines a lot of things I look for in a side item.  Vegetable-laden, easy to eat with fork or fingers (necessary when feeding both toddler and adult), and keeps well so I can make it once and have it all week.  Oh yeah, and it tastes pretty good too!

Easy Cucumber and Tomato Salad
2-3 medium tomatoes, chunked
1 cucumber, chunked
1/2 small sweet onion, minced or two baby leeks, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Salt & Pepper

Combine cut-up vegetables in a bowl.  Mix olive oil, vinegar and salt & pepper and pour over vegetables.  Best after sitting for 30 minutes in the fridge.  Keeps well for a few days in the fridge!  (For fancier looking cucumbers, use a vegetable peeler to remove alternating strips of peel.)

Veggies for Breakfast

Vegetable Frittata 
I just learned the word 'frittata' this year.  When I first heard it, I thought it meant something Spanish and definitely something fancy.  As it turns out, it's actually pretty simple (and definitely really versatile).  And I was wrong about the Spanish part too - 'frittata' is an Italian word.  I should've known; everything the Italians do is delicious.  Basically a frittata is an open-faced omelette and it makes for a hearty breakfast.

Couple of tbsp of olive oil
1/2 cup of chopped onion
4-6 cups of any vegetable chopped (greens like kale, arugula, chard can be sliced thin and included raw; root vegetables like potatoes and turnips should be added to pan first and cooked a little longer than other veggies - other great additions are broccoli, tomatoes and squash)
Handful of fresh herbs, chopped
2 - 3 eggs
1/2 cup cheese (parmesan, goat cheese, cheddar - they're all good)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet set to medium.  Add onion and cook until soft.  Add the vegetables and heat until soft.  (If using root vegetables, add first and let cook down for about 10 minutes before adding greens, etc. If using tomatoes, you may want to squeeze them dry before adding to pan.)  Turn the heat down and add herbs.  Cook until pan is pretty dry.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs and salt and pepper and cheese.  Spread veggies evenly in the pan and pour your egg mixture over it.  Let everything cook undisturbed for about 10 minutes until the eggs are just set. (If you do disturb it, then just strip it of the 'frittata' fanciness and call it a scramble.  It'll still be good!)  Serve it up alone, or top with a little Greek yogurt.

This recipe is great for leftover vegetables too.  Just toss in after the onions and add your egg mixture right away.

Breakfast Smoothie
The trick is to incorporating vegetables into smoothies is balancing the earthiness of the vegetables with fruit and herbs.  Also, this recipe involves juicing.


For the juice:
Bunch of beet greens, kale, spinach or chard
Half handful of mint
(Juice & set aside - Great to make ahead to have on hand for last minute morning smoothies)
For the smoothie:
1 1/2 cups frozen fruit (peaches, mangos and strawberries are good choices - berry mixtures can be a little intense)
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup of your green juice

When you make smoothies, always make sure to add your liquid first so that the blender's blades are never running dry.  Ginger is also a great balancer to 'green' juice.  Sometimes I throw some chai tea concentrate in the mix for a little flair.

**None of my pictures turned out well so I borrowed the images in this post from the web - cannot claim them! 

Community Supported Agriculture: Native Sun style

CSA is short for Community Supported Agriculture. The term covers a broad range of different techniques for getting great local food out to the folks who want it. Most commonly, CSA means selling shares of a small farm's crop prior to the harvest and then distributing those shares throughout a season in weekly produce boxes.

Who should join a CSA? People who love the freshest vegetables! Who should join our CSA? We recommend subscription boxes for small households (1-2 people) if they eat vegetables with most meals or larger households that eat vegetables at a least one meal a day. Since the boxes will be made up of the vegetables that are ready for harvest in that week, boxes work best for folks that like variety and have an interest in trying new recipes. Our shares will be distributed in 8 week sessions over the course of spring, summer and fall. Since shares need to be picked up every week, make sure to select sessions that don't conflict with vacations. Also shares must be picked up at the farm during farmstand hours on Wednesday, so CSA boxes will work best for people who can get to the stand easily.

The sign-up form includes a list of "anticipated offerings" for each session. Since we are always at the mercy of Mother Nature, the anticipated offerings serves as a guide and isn't set in stone. We'll make every effort to maximize variety and interest while still including the staple crops you would expect, all at a great value.

Interested? Sign up here. Still have questions? Email us!

Raw conclusions...

Well, today is day 7, and I am hesitant to admit that we quit the raw lifestyle a little bit early. Staying true to the raw fast between dusk and dawn for the work week was no problem, but we faltered on Saturday after a long hike around the Botanical Gardens and succumbed to a delicious plate of Kelly's Jamaican. Without work to distract us, our hunger took hold, and we had not prepared enough raw snacks to combat it. Still, even at 5 days, it was a great experience. Besides just eating more raw foods, we also used the week as an opportunity to abstain from television and to get to bed earlier. We kept a gratitude journal and made sure to say a few words of thanks before we sat down to any meals. We both felt more focused, more grounded and more grateful and we plan to carry some of this week's experience back to our regular routine. Especially the part where we convinced Garrett to eat raw kale!

7 days of RAW

Farmer Brent and I are going raw this week! Between dawn and dusk for the next 7 days, we'll be limiting ourselves to raw fruits and veggies. As parents of an infant, there's no way we could pull off a true raw fast, but this seemed like a do-able compromise. We plan to eat healthy breakfasts and dinners, filled with whole grains, vegetarian proteins and lots of veggies. Wish us luck! We'll keep you posted.

Our first Youtube video!

Ok, it's not our video, but we're in it! It is from the Field of Greens event that we participated in this past fall. Check it out and let us know what you think! LINK