Our CSA experience 2015: Green Earth Farm - Season Preview.

This is not our first CSA experience. We had two experiences with two different farms. The first one was a very good experience but it was a few years ago and they were not offering a pickup near enough to us anymore. The second experience was not so good because the owners were young and inexperienced but also because that year that was a drought in Illinois that definitely did not help the crops. This year we decided to join Green Earth Farm after glowing reviews by some friends and because we liked the idea of picking up the produce directly on the farm thus giving us the chance to show our kids where their food is coming from.

From our previous experience we know that joining a CSA requires a certain amount of flexibility when it comes to food tastes. You have to adapt to eating what comes in the box that week instead of what strikes your fancy. It is part of living with the seasons, and we appreciate the chance we have to do that in summer. We live in an area where eating seasonal food in the winter would mean not eating fresh vegetables for months. As much as we enjoy canned or pickled vegetables we are not ready to do the switch just yet. But summer gives us the opportunity to enjoy fresh, seasonal and local crops so why not take it? Moreover we are supporting a local farmer and thus our own local community. It's a win-win.

The season hasn't started yet, but 6/13 the farm had a "Season Preview" and we were able to meet the farmers, the kids got to feed the animals and pick some strawberries and we got a nice bag of veggies to bring home.

As you can see we got:

•  a lettuce head
•  a small box of strawberries
•  a bunch of swiss chard
• a bunch of kale
• fresh oregano
• fresh chive (with flowers!)
• three parsnips (or parsley root. I forgot to ask!)

We are definitely looking forward for the season to officially begin. I will detail what we get in every box in this blog and post about recipes I make with each item.
Yesterday I made a potato salad with the fresh chives and I have used the flowers as well. It was nothing special, just potatoes, vegan mayo, olive oil, vinegar and lots of chives. The flowers have a delicate chive flavor and add color and prettiness to the salad, so give it a try!
The strawberries are already all gone as a snack, they rarely last more than one day in our house!