going local

This week, on Monday afternoon, G + I ventured into a new part of town, unusual for us with the town being so small and all. We turned onto a small residential street, no more than a couple of blocks long. We spotted the address we were looking for, and G followed slowly behind while I darted over to do my pick up. I glanced around furtively, then unable to resist, looked through the bags that were sitting on the porch. I found the one that I was looking for and grabbed it, trying to see what was inside. It felt like I was doing something illegal, maybe picking up my dope or stealing something. For a dealer's house, it was an unlikely location, a 2-story house on a quiet street, with elaborate Halloween decorations on most of the front lawns. But then again, so is Nancy Botwin's house on Weeds. They can't all be like the place that my friend and I went to for our pick up in Cabo San Lucas.

But actually, it was about as far from a drug buy as you could get. Unless you're addicted to veggies. G and I were picking up our first CSA order. I've been reading a lot about CSAs (Community-Supported Agriculture) lately and have been curious about trying one out. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, a CSA is a way in which local farmers sell "shares" to the public. A share consists of a box or bag of veggies and fruits. You sign up for the season for whatever size of bag you want, and each week, you get it filled with local, organically grown veggies. Drop-offs are made to various locations, and at my allotted time, I get to go make the pick-up. Some CSAs don't give you an option about vegetables you get. The one I just joined sends out an order form each week with the available selections for that week, and I can pick off the list. Or, if I want to be surprised, or am feeling lazy, they'll select for me. Drop-offs are at various community locations all along the Bay Area, including large work sites, homes, parking lots, the farm itself, etc.

I'm excited about how all this works. I feel great about supporting the local farmers, and I look forward to trying out some new veggies that I don't normally cook with. Granted it's a bit more expensive than buying at a grocery store. But everything is organic, and I don't have to spend forever looking for passable vegetables at Safeway. I think G's still a bit skeptical. Between him working for a produce company and our garden, we already have access to lots of vegetables. But since this doesn't stop me from going to the grocery store for more, I'm convinced this is better.

So this week, we got arugula, golden beets, strawberries, apples, bell peppers, and shallots.
(I forgot to include the shallots in the pic)

Last night's dinner featured store-bought pumpkin ravioli sauteed together with garlic, beet greens, shallots, red bell pepper, and our garden tomatoes. Tonight I was thinking of trying out an arugula salad with roasted beets and goat cheese. See, already I'm using vegetables that I don't normally cook with.