CSA Share for June 25th, Plus Farmer’s Market Challenge–Weeks #3 and #4, and a Recipe for Au Gratin Potatoes

Hello again, friends!

This week’s CSA share consisted of shiitake mushrooms (a pint), a pint of broccoli, a bag of salad greens, a quart of peas, a pound of farm fresh bacon, and a bag of peanut butter granola. Many of the items are similar to last week because I didn’t use those quickly enough and many spoiled. 😦 (However, I’ve made up for this and have consumed most of the items we brought home this week; hence, I am lacking photographs.) 🙂

In addition, for Week #3 of our Farmer’s Market Challenge, I spent $2.50 on a quart of peas (out of a $15 budget), and I didn’t use those soon enough either, so they went to waste. I am wondering if there is something in our refrigerator’s produce drawers that is hastening the decline of our other veggies (supposedly, some vegetables don’t play well with others in storage), as things spoiled sooner than usual.

For Week #4, since much went to waste last week, I spent $3.00 (of $15) on new potatoes, and those I have used. We made au gratin potatoes with them, as well as adding ham to the recipe (ham from a previous week’s CSA share…was stored in our freezer).

Here is a link to the recipe…we added diced ham to ours: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/creamy-au-gratin-potatoes/

The taters….

Slicing them for use….

 

The ingredients…

Mixed in the bowl….

 

 

Finished product…verdict? Yummy.

 

CSA Share for June 18th, 2014–Of Stir Fry and Salads

It’s Wednesday, and that means another visit to the farm! Normally, I don’t make the trip to the farm every week, but it must be the warmer weather, the sunshine, and the promise of more and more fruits and veggies that have encouraged me to visit more often.

This week, for 49 points, I received/chose:

-salad greens, as our family has been on a “kick” lately….

 

 

-shiitake mushrooms and broccoli, to add to salads and stir fry (stir fry being another “kick” our family has been into these days)

 

 

 

-and farm-fresh eggs, because hard-boiled eggs would go great in those salads, am I right?

 

Anyone else reaping the joy that Summer brings to CSA shares? 😉

 

CSA Pickup–Avoiding the Storm to Get Those English Muffins!

Our area is under a tornado watch until 9pm today (the radar was clear enough when we left), and that didn’t stop us from making the 45 minute drive to the farm for CSA pickup day! (It was safe outside; we would never have risked it if it wasn’t, to be fair.)

The farm’s owners posted pictures on their Facebook page of freshly made English muffins–how could we resist that??

Today’s haul, which was worth around 89 points, consisted of:

-a 2.3 lb. beef rump roast (I spared you the picture)

-homemade herbed croutons

-fruit and nut granola

-cast iron English muffins (2 bags’ worth…one for us, and one for the in-laws for watching our youngest while we made the trip)

 

 

 

Farmer’s Market Challenge, Weeks #1 and #2

I feel so fortunate to live in a community where there is an abundance of local, small farmers and numerous farmers’ markets to choose from throughout the week. This season, I won’t be able to frequent my favorite market on Thursdays as much due to my work schedule, but that could prove fruitful in a way because it forces me to patronize farms directly and to visit other markets in different locations and at other times.

We participate in a points-based CSA that we use primarily for meat “purchases,” and we try to make it a habit to frequent farms and markets for fruit and vegetable needs. However, one of the things we struggle with is keeping purchases in check–if we go into a market hungry and lacking a budget, we end up buying produce we often don’t use which goes to waste and hurts our wallet.

There’s also a perception that buying local is expensive–and I admit that it is in some communities. However, I’m not convinced that this is the case in most towns. I truly think that finding food from trustworthy sources can be doable even on a tight budget (and ours is definitely tight since my husband lost his full-time job in April).

I decided that our family would set a $15 cash budget each week that can be utilized at either farmers’ markets or at actual farm stands within our community, and that we would document our results. If anyone else is game, I’d love to see what you can find with the same budget in your own area. I’m hoping that our “challenge” will help motivate others to look locally when shopping for food, while helping us to curb waste and control our finances.

Last week, in the first week of our challenge, I found a quart of strawberries at a beloved local farm for $4.25. I also discovered that a smaller market exists “on the bricks” outside of the railway station where I work, and there I found a head of lettuce for $3.00, a bundle of green onions for $2.00, and two handmade soaps (sweet citrus and one that is a coffee scrub) for $6.00, bringing our total to $15.75. That’s a hair over our $15 budget for the week, but I was comfortable with it.

(Ignore the grainy cell phone camera quality of the picture…this is a photo of the haul from the market where I work.)

This week, for the second week of our challenge, I’ve gone under budget. I purchased a jar of homemade salsa at the market on Tuesdays at our local shopping mall. The salsa was $5. Then, a friend shared information with me about another local farm that I had yet to visit that is near the regional hospital–there we found another head of lettuce for $2.00 (it was HUGE), and I snagged another quart of strawberries for $4.00, bringing the week’s total to $11. I might put back the extra $4 for next week.

Pictures of some of the goodies from the last two weeks:

 

Anyone else with me for this “challenge?” 🙂

Our Latest CSA Pickup; Plus, Some Pros and Cons of a Co-Op/Buying Club

Last Wednesday, a friend and I went to the farm to choose more offerings from the CSA table (I’m really growing fond of a points-based system over a weekly share–I get exactly what I want, AND there’s little waste). I went in with the knowledge that I wanted to focus on meat choices rather than veggies, since our family is also supporting other local farms and markets through our $15/week direct purchase budget (which might be better options to serve our vegetable and fruit needs). (More on the $15/week challenge in a future post.) I left the farm with two whole chickens, two beef steaks, and two pounds of ground pork. Yum!

I’ve also been making purchases with our local organic co-op/buying club. I haven’t been doing the best job at documenting them due to the stress of the recent job loss in our family (my husband), and my starting a new job within the last couple months. Here’s one of the purchases…20 pounds of organic sweet potatoes for $15. That was a great buy! ($2.60 for organic cream cheese didn’t seem so great to me, though, as an example of a “meh” purchase.)

I’m not sure, though, honestly, if I will continue in the co-op/buying club through the local volunteer group. See, we had placed an order for organic, grass-fed beef for $4.25 a pound, which I felt was a great price point. I waited, and waited, and went into town for two different pick-ups that never happened. My order was in for weeks, and finally, after a growing level of frustration with the procrastinating farmer, I opted out of the order. As of now, the order STILL hasn’t come to fruition for those who are opting to continue in wait for their meat order. That is one of the biggest drawbacks for me with the co-op/buying club. Deliveries and pick-ups are very difficult to arrange and coordinate between work schedules, truck drivers, etc. And in this case, this particular order might not happen–which was frustrating to me because we needed the ground beef. We ended up going with another local source for the beef instead because we simply needed it. What choice do you have, you know?

So, our CSA co-op is going wonderfully, but the one that works through wholesale dealers and volunteers…well…my mind isn’t made up yet. We shall see.

CSA 2014 Pickup #3: What 100 Points Bought Me

FINALLY, I was able to head back out to the farm to pick out more CSA goodies–and I had a friend in tow!  Even though there was a threat of rain in the forecast (we missed a visit due to a torrential rain and severe thunderstorm a couple weeks back–we were even on the road already, too!), we made it there and stayed dry! And I think it was worth the trip! 🙂

Today’s haul, for roughly 100 points, bought me:

 

My total haul was a bag of mesclun salad mix, baby spinach, a pint of shiitake mushrooms, rosemary-wheat rolls, broccoli raab, and homemade dandelion salve (for aching muscles).

If you participate in a CSA, has it started yet?

CSA 2014: Pickup #2 and Piggies

With everything going on in our lives, it’s been easy to neglect going to the farm, even though we missed having the goodies. So, today, we went to pickup some CSA treats, after having to plan the trip a few days in advance, just so we could ensure we would actually do it.

Today’s haul included:

-four honey and corn muffins (not pictured, because they didn’t survive the 45 minute drive home)

-one loaf of focaccia bread

 

 

-two dozen eggs

 

-one pound of bacon

 

-and two packages of fresh ham slices

 

The full haul, minus the already-consumed muffins….

 

I’m guessing this used around 120 points out of our share of 800. Including the bundle from our last pickup, we’ve used roughly a quarter the points available (we plan on working for more if we run out).

I’m including some pictures of the residents at the farm….

 

 

 

 

CSA 2014: Week #1–Angry Roosters, Friendly Puppies, and Farm Fresh Meat

Last year, we were fortunate enough to participate in a CSA program. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, CSA stands for community supported agriculture. In this farming model, consumers purchase a “share” of a farmer’s produce. The money is given at the beginning of the season, and in return, you receive a portion of the farmer’s harvest. If the year is particularly good, you literally reap the bounty. If it’s a year that isn’t as successful, you incur some loss along with the farmer, but by absorbing the small amount of loss, you help provide the farmer a bit of financial cushion so he or she can continue serving the community next year. However, usually it’s one or two crops that fails, and there’s generally still an ample amount of produce, even in less productive seasons and climates.  Farmers do all that they can to ensure that their shareholders receive their money’s worth, and they are proactive in working to prevent losses.

Last year, we participated in a traditional CSA program. In a typical CSA model, shareholders receive a bag of goodies each week, usually determined by the farmer, with a small allowance for choice when feasible. The benefit to this is that you are provided with fruits and vegetables that you might not have tried otherwise. The downside is that there is a small amount of waste if there is something that you’re not as interested in, or you might not receive as much of an item as you prefer. However, there is a sense of satisfaction and anticipation in waiting for this week’s bag of produce.

This year, we’re trying a less traditional program. Instead of a bag of items each week, we purchased “points,” essentially credit, to pick out whatever items we prefer, in whatever quantities we choose, until we run out of points. We can pick out items weekly, or we can go once a month if we want to. There’s a lot of flexibility in this model. When a shareholder runs out of points, he or she can either purchase more or volunteer on the farm to earn them instead.

We had never physically been on our “new” farm before, so today, on a cloudy, yet warm, April day, we set out to find it. Last week was technically the first “official” week for pick-ups, but the roads were too snowy and treacherous for our clumsy minivan to manage.

The official greeters….

 

 

The offerings…

 

The farm and its residents….

 

The rooster in the following picture was something else. I was feeling a bit guilty at the thought that we were going to be partaking of the meat of some of these animals, and as soon as I thought that, I found myself being chased by this beast of a rooster. Even when we tried to give him a wide berth, he puffed and crowed and snuffled. As we turned our backs and walked away, he started charging at me in particular, and at once point, he gave me a good, hard, peck! I was stunned, as I’ve never encountered a mean chicken or rooster before (though I’ve heard about them a time or two). I must have walked too close to his favorite hen! He didn’t like another family who was visiting, either! I think he might have a waiting list of families who want a piece of him when his time comes. (Kidding…maybe.) 😉

So, after we survived our encounter with the rooster, we found our way back to our van, and brought home our treats. What did we choose for our first week’s pick-up?

Organic honey walnut granola (homemade)….

 

One pound of ground lamb, farm-raised, of course….

 

 

One pound of breakfast sausage….

Fresh pork chops….

 

Total = 71 points (approximately, out of a share of 800 points, though we are also going to participate in the Workshare Program to earn more points when we run out)

I sometimes do feel guilty eating meat. However, I do feel a lot better when I can actually visit the farm where the animals were raised, and I know that they have full access to pasture, room to roam, to dig for bugs and plants, to smell the air, to simply be the animals they were born to be. Plus, because the animals have eaten “real” food instead of only cheap, crummy, commercial feeds, quite honestly, the meat is of a higher quality, and it tastes worlds better than what you can purchase in a big box store.

And as for the granola…all I need is some yogurt. I can’t wait!!

That’s our first week’s pick-up! I’m not sure we will travel to the farm each and every week, but as of right now, we’re aiming for every other week, both to preserve points and gasoline!

Plus, the other benefit of a CSA program is watching my children learn to love small farmers, local food, and animals. 🙂

Maybe I should be grateful a puppy wasn’t an “option” for this week’s pick-up? 😉

 

 

Trading “American Girl” for American Farm

I’m one of those mothers who unfortunately has the fault of chronically comparing herself to other mothers. And in our quest to get out of debt and to live a simpler life, I find myself questioning my decisions involving my children even more.

We cut the cable cord over a year ago–we do have a few channels still, due to a digital tuner–but avoiding the bombardment of incessant commercials telling me what we supposedly need and apparently lack is totally worth it. I don’t have children who ask for the latest and greatest toys, gadgets, processed foods, or whatever else is being sold and packaged in bright, neon colors and advertised with flashy commercials and ever-present advertising.

However, I am on Facebook. I do utilize social media. So, it’s easy to see the green grass on the other side. At Christmas, I see children with smartphones, and American Girl dolls, and tablets, and piles of clothing, and expensive shoes, and shiny presents with gigantic bows that fill entire rooms. I know that my Kindergarten-aged son’s friends have video game consoles, the latest toys, their own electronic gadgets. I know this, and it worries me. For now, my son seems oblivious, but sooner or later, he will start asking why we don’t buy presents on the level of So-and-So’s family, or why he can’t have a smartphone when he’s eight years old. I feel it is inevitable. Someday, his little sister will want Barbies, and even more expensive dolls, and more toys, and what her friends have.

And, sometimes, I question my decisions–is it wrong to deny them a grandiose Christmas? Should I make presents more of a priority? Don’t I care whether or not they will be made fun of in school? Is our goal of a self-reliant life going to set them up for bullying later on?

Today, our family attended a Maple Tree Tapping class at a local farm. And as I watched my children marvel at baby goats, as they chased chickens while trying to feed them organically grown soybeans harvested from the farm, as my son learned that maple syrup doesn’t come from a cute glass jar at the grocery store…during those moments, and on this rare occasion, I feel like I’m doing something right…..

Barnyard Babies!