The sun and rain have made the vegetables grow. Here are leaves from my CSA bag.

In the upper left  a tender collard leaf, cilantro is below it and on the right a solitary sorrel leaf and a red leaf lettuce below.

I have never eaten sorrel and was delighted to find a sheet of recipes nestled into my CSA bag. Sorrel is a spring green with surprisingly strong  lemon flavor. It can be eaten in a salad with mixed greens, added to asparagus or spinach, used to make a sauce for fish, to make a lemony pesto or turned into soup.

I cooked  sorrel, with green onions and spinach for dinner last night and was quite pleased with the results.  Here’s how I did it: … read more

Today’s CSA bag had eggs, granola, garlic scallions, spicy greens, and lemon basil and rhubarb.

This picture shows you the assortment but not the quantity.  As a part of a Vermont CSA where the weather forecast  held the promise of snow last night and I had to retrieve the duvet from the cedar chest, the scallions, basil and lettuce from a sustainably heated green house are welcome proof that spring is here.

I followed the recipe for Garlic Scallion Almond Pesto that came in my first CSA bag.

Made with garlic scallions, almonds, parmesan cheese and olive oil – it’s versatile quick and tasty. In an effort to overcome my habit of expanding work to fill every available second, I bought a package of fresh cheese and spinach ravioli at the market rather than making fresh pasta. I made the pesto in a mini food processor. The garlic scallions imparted a delicious and not overwhelming flavor of spring garlic.  I modified the recipe a bit. Here’s how I did it:  … read more

Today I picked up my first CSA delivery. I got Chinese cabbage, Siberian kale, chives, garlic chives, a spicy greens salad mix of about twenty greens, small bunches of Tango lettuce , spring herbs, granola and eggs.

My bag also had a note from the Clay HIll folks with an update on the irrigation system, information about the green house and hoop houses and a recipe for Garlic Scallion and Almond Pesto.

I’m planning on making fresh pasta and the pesto for dinner tomorrow night.  I let you know how it goes.  I made maple syrup seasoned salad dressing to top the spicy mixed greens for  a salad for dinner. Here’s how I did it: … read more

I came home to spring in my garden.

The daffodils are blooming, the weeping willows are full of tender, yellow green leaves, the grass is green and the weeds are taking over. Each spring I think about all the vegetables I might grow. By the middle of June I wonder what I was thinking.  Of course I will plant carrots and perhaps potatoes.

The parsley and rhubarb have reappeared in my garden but the undeniable truth is FARMERS DO IT BETTER. They work harder, they weed every day, not just when they feel like meditating, they work hard.

This spring I have joined the Clay Hill Collective CSA in Harland, Vermont.  The Clay Hill Collective is a collective of six growers and producers of quality food less than four miles from my kitchen.  In early spring, I’ve been told that I can expect lettuce, spicy greens, spinach, kale, herbs and lots more. I will be doing a CSA post each week to share what came in my bag and a recipe or two of what I made.

Eating Local is possible without having a green thumb.  I hope you will be inspired to find and support a farmer or group of farmers who live near you. Food is tastier to me when I know who grew it.

Contact me if you live nearby and would like to be a part of the Clay Hill CSA. If you are part of a CSA, a veg box scheme, or a farmers’ market regular, I’d love to hear what’s in your bag and what you are making with it.

My CSA starts on Sunday!