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Keeping Up with
Plenty... Making the Most of Your CSA Share
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by Miriam Axel-Lute
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Eating Economically at the
Co-op series
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A
community supported agriculture (CSA) share is a tasty and powerful way
to support local food. Your upfront payment helps farmers get essential
working capital during the "off" season. In return you get a weekly
assortment of picked-this- morning treats throughout the growing season.
If you can use it all, a CSA represents a good deal compared to buying
the same amount of food retail. However, that requires a shift in
cooking patterns as compared to planning meals first and shopping
second. Here are some tips on making that change:
• Pick-Up First. Plan a grocery run the day after you get your share
(or the day of if your pickup site is the Co-op), so you can buy
complementary food and avoid mistakenly doubling up.
• Keep Track. Make a list of what's in your share and put it on the
fridge. It's easier to scan the list, see "scallions, asparagus, and
basil," and think "Hey! Quiche!" without rummaging around in your
produce bins.
• Pre-Mix. Especially early in the season, CSA shares are heavy on the
salad makings. I like to wash and chop heads of lettuce as soon as they
arrive and add grated carrots and radishes (save out cucumbers to
prevent wilting). Having it pre-made increases the chances that I'll
eat enough salad to keep up with the lettuce.
• Store Smart. Stick fresh basil and parsley upright in a cup of water
on the table (not in the fridge!). Separate greens and roots
immediately, placing greens in the crisper in a bag.
Also take note of the things that just shouldn't be stored, and use
them first. The sugar in fresh peas and fresh (non-GMO) corn starts
turning to starch as soon as they are picked, so use them within a day
or two.
• Experiment. One of the challenges of CSA cooking is finding uses for
vegetables that are either completely new to you or that you wouldn't
have voluntarily bought. While you should leave items you absolutely
despise behind at the pick-up site (the leftovers are usually donated
to a food pantry), making the best of a CSA share does mean being
adventurous.
For example, my family could never use up the mammoth bunches of
radishes that would appear spring and fall, until we tried roasting
them rather than relegating them to the salad bowl. Suddenly they
became sweet and mellow and universally enjoyed. Likewise, after
several failed attempts at treating mustard greens like collards and
kale, we finally discovered that the counterintuitive way for us to
enjoy their spicy bite was to curry them.
• Freeze Fearlessly. Sometimes you really do have too much food. You
don't have to get into hard-core canning to put aside a bit of the
season's peak bounty. Blend up some of that basil with garlic and olive
oil and freeze it for a midwinter pesto extravaganza (add cheese and
nuts after thawing). Pureed soups and tomato sauce freeze well, as do
greens or green beans. Tomatoes and berries can even be flash frozen
whole and with no preparation or blanching. Spread them on a baking
sheet (so they don't stick together) and then pour them into a
container once frozen.
• Google It. Cookbooks are great for general inspiration. But you'd
have to have an awfully large library of well-indexed cookbooks to be
able to put your hands on a recipe that would use up kohlrabi and fresh
sage or beets and leeks in one dish as easily as you can on your
favorite search engine.
• Don't Fret. It takes a little time to adjust your cooking and eating
habits to a CSA. But remember, just by participating in one, you're
providing essential support to a local farm, and therefore helping to
preserve access to fresh healthy food in the region. So even if a
shriveled head of lettuce goes straight to your compost heap now and
again, it wasn't grown in vain. And chances are, you'll be too inspired
by the sight and smell of next week's delicious veggies to let it
happen too often.
To learn more about a CSA that drops off at Honest Weight Food Co-op on
a weekly basis from the beginning of June until the week before
Thanksgiving, please contact Fox Creek Farm (Sara and Raymond Luhrman),
518-872-2375.
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