Thursday, February 19, 2009
I am a farmer... sort of!
Okay, I am not really a farmer. I haven't even owned a pair overalls since the mid 1990s. (Don't laugh, you know you owned a pair too!) But, this week, I joined a local farm cooperative program. I read about it ages ago in an issue of Real Simple magazine. The article linked to this website, CSA. From there, I was able to find the farms in my area that participate in community supported agriculture, JROrganics. I get an email at the beginning of each week telling me what to expect in that week's package, and then on Thursdays, I go pick up my bounty! I subscribe to the fruit/vegetable package and the fresh flowers package - because I may need to eat, but I NEEEEEEEDDDDDD beautiful flowers. Dontcha think?? ;)
I know that my flower arranging skills are sorely lacking - but here's to getting lots of practice!!!
Aren't they pretty?
This weeks case includes the following: lettuce, celery, broccoli, swiss chard, leeks, beets, carrots, sugar snap peas, rosemary, blood oranges and apples.
I am really excited about the prospect of good, fresh, organic produce. I mean, how do you get fresher than picked the day before I get my hands on it?! I am not sure who I am going to pawn off those beets on, but I am pretty excited about everything else!! And, the flowers are so pretty! The bunch was so huge, I split it into two bunches and now have fresh flowers in two rooms of my home.
Our family eats a lot of fresh produce - both vegetables and fruit. So, the way I look at it, this cooperative program allows me to feed my family the freshest possible produce - and it is organic. I will be motivated to cook with vegetables that are in season (think higher quality) and maybe a little outside-the-box for me. And, I support a local farmer, all at the same time. Woo hoo!
Here is the first recipe I am going to cook using my fresh rosemary:
Rosemary Grilled Chicken Thighs
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP dijon mustard
2 TBSP honey
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 lb skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1/2 lemon
comine garlic and next 6 ingredients in large ziploc plastic bag, squeeze bag to combine ingredients. Add chicken, turning to coat, and seal bag. Chill 1 to 24 hours.
preheat grill to 350-400 degrees. Remove chicken from marinade and discard marinade.
grill chicken, covered - heat 5 to 7 minutes on each side. transfer chicken to large piece of foil. squeeze juice from lemon over chicken; fold foil around chicken, covering chicken completely. let stand 10 minutes.
I'll let you know how it turns out!
Missy,
ReplyDeleteI am sooo jealous! Our farmer's market season doesn't start until MAY!!! I'm dying from some fresh local food! One of my good friends is a flower farmer, and I love getting those flower bunches from her every week! A CSA is one of the best things you can do to support local farmers and help the environment in the meantime. Big thumbs up, and keep us updated with recipes you get creative with!
I love that you are supporting your local farmers. I emailed my Dad this link. I live on an 80 acre farm and we have 3 huge gardens that we are preparing (have been for weeks now) and we always have more veggies than freezer space. It breaks my heart for it to go to waste. I asked him to think about doing it. I checked the listings and there are only 4 in MS and they haven't been active since 2005. How sad! and in this economy, people are looking for cheaper routes!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful flowers! They must have been in a greenhouse. I am SO JEALOUS!! haha