So, this summer we have been participating in a local CSA. I suspected in the fall, when I paid up for the 25 weeks of fresh veggies, that this would force me to eat healthier. And it has. I actually crave fresh vegetables now, something that I have never really done in the past. I have been introduced to some crazy stuff like kohlrabi, and even figured out how to cook it (when in doubt, stir fry). I confess that a few times I had to google for vegetable images, because I wasn’t quite sure what that pale, alien-looking vegetable in my food box was.
Will I pay for a CSA share for next year? Nah, probably not. While I feel like I have learned a lot about eating seasonally already, I feel like the CSA share has given me the confidence to learn how to cook what is available, rather than what sounds good at the moment. Does that make sense? Tonight I made slow-cooker cabbage and apples, after doing a web search for cabbage recipes that included ingredients we already had sitting around in the kitchen. This is the first time in my life to cook cabbage, and it turned out yummy, if I say so myself (which I must, since everyone else was too chicken to try it).
Also, this year we put out a huge (for us) garden. Not huge by our grandparents’ standards, of course, but we’re still learning. The garden, while very weedy at this point, hasn’t been a total flop as in years past. I believe this is our 6th attempt at gardening. In years past, my sole concern was getting enough tomatoes canned to last me through the winter, as I am a tomato-holic. This year, we planted:
Peas: picked enough to fill a medium size bowl. That’s all. Must learn more about making peas happy.
Green beans: First year we have had any measure of success with these- yay, since we both love green beans! My sis-in-law picked enough from my garden today to cook up a large pot, and still had a large bucket of beans for me to process. Having bean plants produce more than a few stragglers is super exciting for me.
Corn: Wow, the corn. It is up to my height now, with normal size ears (not waist high with deformed midget ears, as in all our previous attempts). Unfortunately, our dog Mojo is slacking on the keeping away raccoons front. I am hoping they don’t steal all the ears before they are ready to eat.
Lettuce: I turned over a new leaf with lettuce this spring (yes, pun fully intended) - I actually started to like it! I have never been the salad type, because I always found lettuce to be too bitter. This spring I discovered that when you pick the lettuce early out of your own garden, it’s not bitter at all, and it practically melts in your mouth. Honestly, I am a little frustrated that I haven’t lost any weight this summer, considering all the meals that I have replaced with salads. Yum.
Spinach: It dried up and died a horrible, crinkly death before I could do anything with it. I think I planted it too late.
Pepper plants: I planted four. They sort of stayed the same size, and just grew a crazy amount of leaves and a few peppers here and there. I will have to read up on making these happy too.
Potato plants: I threw in a few potato eyes in the blank spots between rows. They flourished, and then the weeds killed them.
Onions, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, yellow squash: all very happy amongst their weed friends, and yet to be eaten, other than a few fried green tomatoes.
Things I will do different next year: Definitely going to try my hand at planting cabbage and broccoli. Probably not going to bother with peas again. They hate me. This fall, I will try to remember to pay for a truckload or two of manure from a local farmer, because I suspect that the soil in this spot isn’t super great and needs some boosting. Next spring, I hope to have the time and energy to plan the garden better, and to keep the weeds down enough that they don’t kill innocent vegetables. I will mark the rows already planted, so I don’t end up with a huge, guilt-inducing blank space between the turnip greens and the viney plants.
While my (and M’s) attempts at keeping up with the garden make his grandpa laugh at us, I am feeling confident enough in the gardening thing to forgo the CSA share for next year, and leave it to someone who doesn’t have the luxury of having land to grow their own veggies, as we do.
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