surrealestate: (Sentient Broccoli)
[personal profile] surrealestate
I post this as I sit here eating freshly-baked focaccia along with the first bruschetta of the season OmnomYUM!

Last week, I did my first batch of roasted vegetables. So good! Darn heat.) I also froze shredded squash for the future, made a big batch of marinated kale++, more kimchi, and ginger carrots.

In other news, check out this awesome play at the plate.

  • 2 bunches Beets (red, with greens)
  • 2 bunches Carrots (orange)
  • 2 bunches Spring Onions
  • 2 bunches Kale
  • 2 lbs Wax Beans (yellow)
  • 4 lbs Summer Squash (mixed types)
  • 4 lbs (by volume :) Yukon Gold Potatoes
  • 2 heads Romaine Lettuce
    --
  • 1 bunch Carrots (orange)
  • 1 bunch Sweet Onions
  • 2 Tomatoes (woohoo!)
  • 1 Cucumber
  • 1 Pepper
  • 1 Fennel
  • 1 bunch Cilantro
  • 1 bunch Basil
  • 1 lb Summer Squash (mixed types)
  • 1 head Raddichio
  • 1 head Lettuce
  • 1 bunch Scallion

One thing I've found sort of interesting looking at CSA posts is how good they always sound. Heck, even when I read the above list (bottom half), it looks so much better than the reality. So this week I did a weight-comparison of Parker and Red Fire. I already knew that RF fit into one shopping bag while Parker needed four, but I was still shocked by the results. (The sad part is that folks at the RF pick-up were going on about how this felt like the best one yet, while Steve apologized for not having more.)

Parker: 24 lbs 5 oz
Red Fire: 6 lbs 2 oz

Date: 2010-07-16 07:20 pm (UTC)
ext_119452: (Default)
From: [identity profile] desiringsubject.livejournal.com
Wow. I've had a different farm share every year:
This year Red Fire
Last Year Enterprise
Previous Parker
Previous Brookfield

And I feel like Every YEAR I have the wrong one!! This seems clearly the year to have Parker. Both [livejournal.com profile] veek and [livejournal.com profile] imvfd have been away for the last 2 deliveries and I've been well able to eat ALMOST the whole share myself. I lost, maybe, one cucumber in the process. And some scallions. Because dear L-RD I cannot use that many scallions.

Date: 2010-07-16 07:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] surrealestate.livejournal.com
I've had Parker for the past five years and for all that I periodically bitch, I can look back and honestly say year has in fact been a good year in terms of the haul. Even with all the issues last year, I actually have very little doubt that our Parker haul was heftier than the RF. And that's aside from how happy I am to have an established relationship with my farmer. (As opposed to the random person who works the pick-up point.)

It's really easy to look at a list of things you aren't getting and think it looks better, but that's not always the reality. (For a very silly example, I look at a friend's posted RF list and frequently think how I wish our haul was that good, but of course we get pretty much the exact same thing -- it just looks better in text. :)

(All of my scallions have gone into kimchi.)

Date: 2010-07-16 09:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] intuition-ist.livejournal.com
the thing i found about Parker's shares were that they were a little too scattershot, and had lots of things (like fennel, and cilantro, and tomatillos) that i didn't like and/or had no idea what to do with. about half my small share wound up as waste because of that.

Date: 2010-07-16 09:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] surrealestate.livejournal.com
That is amusing in reply to this post, since RF was the one with fennel and cilantro. I suppose one could say that the up side with them is that if there's something you don't like, you at least don't get a whole lot of it... ;)

Every farm share is all over the map, though, with all sorts of different things. I'm not sure what you mean by "scattershot" exactly besides "varied", which I consider a good thing, and a description that applies to pretty much all the local CSAs. Sounds like you aren't the target market for this sort of farm share at all, though. (As opposed to the type that lets you choose your stuff from various options, which DD's does to a large extent.)

Date: 2010-07-16 09:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] intuition-ist.livejournal.com
and yet, Parker gave me those three pretty regularly for a while.

and your post wasn't clear which was which. :P

and you're on our "recommended real estate agent" list at work. :)

Date: 2010-07-16 09:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] surrealestate.livejournal.com
*grin* Well, it was kind of clear based on the weights. :) Oddly, I went through all of last year, and there were no tomatillos from Parker (though plenty from RF). I do recall them from prior years, though. And three bunches of cilantro. Which I'll agree with you is at least two (possibly 4) too many.

Like I said, it's totally cool to not be down with the standard CSA format -- there's a reason supermarkets are so popular after all. :) For me, even ditching all the cilantro and a few other things, it's still totally worth it, at least for Parker. For RF, I'm not sure it's any cheaper than if I bought all the same stuff at the markets every week (and of course I wouldn't make all the same choices in that case).

Date: 2010-07-16 10:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] chris-warrior.livejournal.com
i so agree with you that three bunches of cilantro is three bunches too many.

i wish i knew how to cook as well as you. :)

Date: 2010-07-17 01:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] turil.livejournal.com
I got really into fennel this year, after I made a salad for a raw potluck with it and some bok choy and it was a serious hit. Now I'm growing it, and it's fun in the garden. If I can get a second batch growing (it grows fast), I'll send some over if you want.

Here's a recipe (http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/2009/01/raw-vegan-recipe-fennel-orange-kale.html) that combines it with kale, the most amazing food on the planet. :-)

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