Hi there!
Wow, who knew there were so many Lie To Me fans out there…I can’t believe I didn’t know about this show! I’m excited to get caught up.
It just dawned on me that I forgot to post about our weekly CSA surprises this week, so I did an impromptu photoshoot of the goodies.
First a few words from the farmers from Plan B:
“Hello Everyone,
We hope you’re all taking the heat ok, it is verrrrry hot up here at the farm these days, but our super-tough farm crew is out there working in the heat to weed and harvest the veggies regardless!The crops don’t seem to mind the heat so much, the peas, green beans, and zucchini are just loving it, and taking the opportunity to grow grow grow! We have a great crop of SUGAR SNAP PEAS this year, these are super sweet and have edible pods, so don’t shell them, just eat them whole!
This Week’s Summer Shares Feature:
Asparagus – ON
New Potatoes – Aylmer, ON
Sugar Snap Peas – Plan B – EDIBLE PODS!! (don’t shell these peas.)
Zucchini – Aylmer, ON
Red Leaf Lettuce – Waterloo, ON
Spinach – Waterloo, ON
Flat Leaf Parsley – Plan B
Beets with Tops – Waterloo, ON (tops are edible too!)
Arugula or Tat Soi (bagged) or Purslane (bunched) – Plan B – (all good chopped into salads.) OR Green Onions
Firstly I need to say that I think farmer’s have one of the most underappreciated jobs in the world!
I can’t imagine how exhausted they were this week in the fields during this heat wave!
They deserve to be paid much, much more than they are. When you cringe at the price of organic fruit and vegetables just think how much work it took to get that to your plate. I think many of us forget that organic farming requires a lot more work without the use of pesticides. Farmers have to deal not only with weeds overtaking and killing their crop but they also have to deal with more insects and animals too. My Aunt has an organic garden and she said that she has to spend over 12 hours just to weed her 10ft by 12 ft organic garden and often animals eat a lot of the crop. Sometimes the weeds will grow so quickly they ‘strangle’ the crop and kill the plant. It is hard work to be any kind of farmer, but I think this is especially true for organic farmers. They are truly unsung heroes.
Eric and I are quite frugal with money but the one thing we are willing to spend money on is good quality food!
We have another situation here…
A lot of this is produce from LAST WEEK’s share..eek. Must. eat. more.
Green onions are the new garlic scape, did ya know?
Eric heard about my near fall with the VOO the other morning so he put a crate for me to step up on!
Embarrassing…. :tongue:
This looked like the perfect spot for a veggie glamour shoot…
For all organic vegetables, we definitely are getting out money’s worth each week.
This cost us just $22.50 CAD (it’s a half share)
Personally I think that is a steal for very fresh, organic produce. If we were to buy this at Whole Foods, it would probably be at double this amount if not more.
Fluffy lettuce!!
Ok, back to the situation we have here.
The green onions are seriously out of control! They must be drinking Green Monsters or something because they are growing like weeds!
I put the zucchini next to it so you could have some perspective on how big it is!
I can’t get enough of the green onions in salads lately.
Sugar Snap Peas!
Cutest veggie, hands down.
This was our first time having Sugar Snap Peas and Eric and I both are obsessed now. I love that you can eat the pods. They are so sweet and crunchy and excellent in hummus.
Red Taters. I think I might make my Quick and Easy Potato Soup this weekend.
What Green Monsters are made of…
I can’t wait to try the beet greens. I don’t think I have ever had them before. What to do with them….
Fresh parsley…mmmm.
They also left us with some tips:
- Beets – can be grated fresh onto any salad, adds amazing sweetness
- Parsley – can be chopped and added to any salad or pasta dish at the end, adds a very fresh taste
- Purslane – only in some shares, this is a succulent plant, lemony taste, very high in Omega 3s <—– yes!!!
- Sugar Snap Peas – if you must cook them, they are great just lightly sautéed in any stir fry
Couple questions for you this afternoon:
1) Do you think organic food is priced too high, too low, or just right? Do you think that we pay too much for food in general or not enough?
2) Do you have any fun recipes planned for this weekend or any new foods that you hope to try? Do tell. :biggrin:
Lots of market prep left, see you earrrrrly tomorrow AM for the goodies!
I love beet greens :) They are delicious if you just saute them with some garlic.
Here’s an idea that I used yesterday with my beets from the farmers market. Make a beet risotto but use the beet greens in it as well. Roast off the root part of the beets and chop it up to throw in the risotto (throw them in at the beginning after sauteing the rice). Blanch the beet greens, chop them up, and put these guys in at the end (after the rice has soaked up all of the stock). It was delicious and very nutritious as well! And I loved the fact that I did not have to throw any part of the beet away!