CSA Week One

So we joined a CSA this year (Community Supported Agriculture, for those who don't know).

Big investment, yes, in both money and time (picking up each week then trying to figure out what to make with what we received,) but something we needed to try at least once. If it ends up being worthwhile for us, in both money and time, we will do it again.

And if nothing else, we've made the commitment this year that we are eating local and organic produce, as well as supporting a small, local farm.

For our first time doing a CSA, I chose Roots and Shoots Farm in Manotick. I had purchased from them at the Ottawa Farmer's Market the year before, their share price was comparable to everyone else around here, and they were reasonably nearby.

As part of our CSA, we were invited out for a tour and pot luck dinner at the farm itself, a few weeks before the CSA would be up and running. I didn't take huge amounts of pictures, but did grab a few.

Part of the tour involved showing us the greenhouse and all the various fields, letting us know what is in each field and its approximate growing season. Since a share is for 16 weeks, it is nice to know that when the greens are done, we still have veggies coming.

So here is our share for week one:

Two heads of Lettuce (one red leaf, one green) - these were HUGE!
Small bunch of radishes
Garlic Scapes
Hakurei Turnips (a salad turnip you can eat raw that I took an instant liking to)
Spicy mustard and Kale stirfry mix
Head of Bok Choy
Red Russian Kale
Spring Onions
a bunch of basil

Pretty good.

Now in the first week, we barely managed to go through the lettuce. And that's with my hubby eating a big salad with his lunch each day. I managed to do something with everything else, and took pictures of some of it to post about later.

I hope to take pictures of each of our 16 weeks, with the exception of the week we are away and gifting our share to a friend for that week.