Recipes
Blessings from the Kitchen
Tasting the delights of summer from local farmers
Andrea McGovern
Middlefield
In the past year, I’ve noticed a sort of bombardment of information coming to me about CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture programs.) I finally took the hint, and after writing this spring about St. Noel’s plan to sponsor a CSA drop off site for Geauga Family Farms, the McGoverns and another couple from St. Gabriel’s, Steve and Vicki Galecki, decided to go in together and split a family share.
ANDREA MCGOVERNSummer vegetables make a great part of any recipe. Simple and fresh--doesn’t get any better than that.
I had been told to expect locally grown, organic vegetables that would be fresher than just about anything you’d find in a store. I was very excited, yet a bit apprehensive about the initial outlay of cash. In this type of program, you share the risk with the farmers, paying in advance for the vegetables and fruit you will receive over the course of 20 weeks.
Every Saturday morning, one or all of us trek off to see what surprises are in store. Although the first couple of weeks did feed into my apprehension with a bit lighter harvest, as the season progressed, the “take” has more than made up for a few lean weeks, caused by colder, wetter weather than was expected. Last week we brought home tomatoes (full sized and cherry,) zucchini, a pepper, yellow crookneck and pattypan squashes, broccoli, radishes, green beans, an onion, Swiss chard, potatoes and lots of cucumbers. Other weeks we’ve gotten to try various types of kale, red and golden beets, several types of potatoes, lettuce, green onions and garlic tops, strawberries and the best blueberries I’ve ever had. One week there was a superabundance of basketball sized cabbages, of the green variety, and another week we had smaller red cabbages. I usually make a quick calculation each week of the value of the vegetables in our bag, and there’s no doubt that for most of the weeks we’ve received far more than $20 worth of produce (our average weekly cost,) at supermarket prices. As the growing season tapers off, I will have these bounteous weeks to remember with thankfulness.
It may be a combination of factors, but I’ve also noticed that I’ve had very little waste, even with all this abundance. First of all, the vegetables really are fresher than what I am used to getting. Secondly, because of being involved in this program, I seem to be more committed to creative cooking and using what I have on hand. Many of the CSA members are enjoying comparing notes and sharing recipes. A fun community of foodies has grown up, made up of people willing to go out on a limb to give their families fresh, healthy food.
As a final note, the CSA committee at St. Noel’s took on this project as part of the parish’s social justice ministry. It’s been a big time commitment to organize and man the pickup each Saturday, but there is always a great atmosphere of sharing and joy. It goes to show, good food really does feed the soul, too!
McGovern is a freelance writer.