Wed 07.02.08 - Every Wednesday, my front door neighbor, Tammy Callis, goes to Long Beach to pick up our weekly CSA farm box from the Tierra Miguel Farm in northern San Diego county.
The community supported agricultural movement (CSA) is a way for folks to participate in supporting local, organic farms and to get good to great local produce that is in season and very fresh.
My food shopping habits are more European than American, in that I like to shop every day or two for the food needed for that day or the next. I like my produce and meat to be fresh and not sitting in the fridge in plastic for the last two weeks, so I do not do a big weekly shop like many Americans do. As a freelancer, I also like a good excuse to get out of the house every day to go forage at the local Whole Foods or Trader Joe's for what is fresh and looks tasty enough to inspire dinner preparations.
I am usually jealous when I read the blog posts of San Franciscans who "rent" or support a cow or a fruit tree and get the produce thereof in season. When Tammy asked me if I wanted to join her and Ryan in sharing a weekly box from the Tierra Miguel farm, I said yes.
It has been an adventure. We get a lot of greens, mostly of the chard and tatsoi variety. I have been getting creative with both and now really enjoy making stirfries with tatsoi.
The pint or two of blueberries that have come in the box the last few weeks are the best I have ever eaten. Plump, no wrinkles, sweet, only slightly tart, and very blueberry-y. Yum.
Every Wednesday it is an adventure to open the box and see what we will get. While we don't get stone fruits (San Diego country does not really have enough chill hours, unless the farm is in Julien), I do look forward to citrus season and what the box will contain in the winter.
The CSA box has been stretching my creative abilities in the kitchen in a very good way and I am having fun.
Recipes to follow.
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