Saturday, November 21, 2009

CSA week one start-up - stalled at the starting line

I was really looking forward to the start of the CSA today. I've cleared space in the freezer, sorted through my stockpiled recipes and I've avoided serious cooking for the last couple of weeks to build up anticipation so I could start this week with some alacrity. But when I got to my pick-up spot all of the half-shares were gone. I looked over the check-in sheet and it looks like we were at least three boxes short. Darn.

I did pick up a couple ears of corn from the extras bin so I'm not entirely bereft. There's a salad recipe I've set aside for the first CSA corn that I can make. Beyond that, I guess it's back to the off-season model for a couple more weeks.

Still, I may as well talk a bit about my plan for this year. I'm deliberately going to be trying fewer new recipes this time around. There are lots of recipes over the last couple years I subscribed to the CSA that I just made once. Many of them showed promise that that first try didn't fully capture and I'd like to go back and improve on that result. I'm not sure how much of that will be worth blogging about. A few tweaks isn't a fully worthy new post, but it's not like anyone's been going through the backfiles. Maybe I'll post with a note that it's a repeat. Any bloggers reading this have thoughts on a proper methodology?

If you want a more proper CSA start-up post, I think there are a few other bloggers who are going to covering it. The Tropical Locavore over at Eating Local in the Tropics has promised a CSA post. I know La Diva of La Diva Cucina and Trina of Miami Dish have talked a bit about their subscriptions in previous years. This is also the first year Bee Heaven's had a blog so we can hear how the first week looks from the other side. Go check them out and see what they have to say.

9 comments:

Russell Hews Everett said...

Aww I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. And jealous. We're in Winter Squash, Kale and Chard season for the next, well, Winter.

FYI I archived all my old CSA posts here:
http://russelleverett.blogspot.com/search/label/South%20Florida%20CSA

Looking back I think I can say that the things worth cooking again were: my experiments with Collards and Callaloo; the daikon cake, kimchi, and Bahn mi pickles; Kale Chips; the Canistel Pie (with waaaaay less clove); and Black Sapote muffins. I am going to miss those muffins.

Lame about the box shortage, I remember there was some chaos at the start last year too.

Marian Wertalka said...

I'm also a CSA member. Check out redlandrambles.com, my blog about Bee Heaven and other growers who participate in the CSA, and stuff going on in the area. If you want a sneak preview of what you're going to get, I will post the share photo on Friday afternoon/evening (after I take it).

billjac said...

Thanks, Marian. Neither your nor the Bee Heaven blog should be considered the "official" CSA blog, right? They're just you and Margie mouthing off and not speaking for the organization? Or is that even a sensible distinction?

kat said...

What a disappointment. As for redoing recipes I think if you change it & make it better its worth reposting. We are actually thinking of not doing a CSA next year. We love our neighborhood farmers' market so much we are thinking of just shopping there every week. Even with a half share it was getting to be too much for two of us.

Frodnesor said...

I'm doing my first season with CSA and, hopefully, will be recapping my experiences here. So far, my daughter has given a thumbs-up to my roselle/lemongrass/ginger tea, so I'm off to a good start.

billjac said...

Kat, to be honest I'd prefer a quality farmers' market to a CSA too. The novel produce and not know what you're going to get is fun for a while but the relentless arrival of a little too much each week can wear one down. Unfortunately, I live in Coral Gables so I don't have a great choice in local farmers' markets.

Frodnesor, I've found that needing material for the blog to be a great aid in keeping me doing interesting new things with the CSA produce. A lot of folks drop off the blogging after a few mentions in the early weeks, but it rewards the effort to keep it going.

Marian Wertalka said...

Bill, my blog is about my view of the CSA etc., and Margie started hers about daily doings on the farm because I'm not there every day to do it. ;-) Not sure what you mean by "official" and "speaking for the organization." Call it my labor of love.

LaDivaCucina said...

Hi Bill, thanks for the shout out, yeah, more CSA musings will be coming. I can't wait to check out everyone else's blogs on the subject too. Sorry you missed out on your share, bummer, we got callaloo and hibiscus, I can see you going for some kind of ice cream with the hibiscus?

I wanted to invite you to my culinary throwdown for DEc. 9. You know it's just for fun but we do have a judge who votes on all the entries. And you'll have plenty of time to participate (almost three weeks) If you or anyone else wants to take part, go to my post to see what it's about!

June said...

Hello! I'll also be blogging about the CSA as often as I can. This is my first year and I'm really excited.