Saturday, June 25, 2011

CSA (Can't Stop eAting)

In an effort to be more frugal with our money and to provide our family with fresh local produce we joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
We chose a local farm, Faucette Farms, which is close to our house AND their produce is organic. 
 The product manager, Polly, is SUPER nice and very accommodating.  If there is something in our weekly bag that might not be to our liking she is quick to offer up alternatives (like extra blueberries...which the kids never like wait to eat).  The only gripe Andrew, who is 4, has is that there is no red farm (meaning he wonders why there is no red barn), however there is a red tractor.


 This week this is what our haul looked like:




We got:
Blackberries
Blueberries
Tomatoes (vine ripe, German Johnson, and cherry)
Zuccini
Carrots
Green Beans
Mushrooms (shiitake and oyster)
Eggs
Spinach
Onions
Green bell pepper
Asparagus
Peaches
Garlic (one head)

To compare and see if we really are getting a good deal my husband and I checked produce prices at the grocery store and compared them to what we got from our CSA.  We estimated that we would have spent $41.00 on the above list, but our CSA only costs $21.00 a week...sounds like a FANTASTIC deal to me.

Should you find yourself in a situation where you might have leftover produce such as apples, and they are a little soft, let me suggest you make your own applesauce.  This process may initially seem daunting or like too much work...however once you do it you will never turn back to store bought again.  I make unsweetened applesauce all the time for the kids.

This week was one of those weeks where I had some extra apples

So I chopped them up, skins still on (I like to include the extra fiber)




Add them to a pot and add enough water to cover them up half way



If you would like the sauce to be a little sweet just add 1 or 2 cloves to the pot (it gives the applesauce an amazing flavor).
 Bring the water to a boil and then continue to boil the apples until they are fork tender (these 2 apples took about 10 minutes).
Spoon your apples into a blender, or food processor, with a little bit of the cooking liquid and blend until smooth (if you've put cloves in make sure you remove them before blending)
This is what you end up with:

My 2 small apples made about 1 cup of sauce.  I used 1/4 cup of it in the vegan banana bread I made here.

7 comments:

  1. I'm envious of your CSA!! We belonged to one a year ago, but I actually couldn't keep up with how much they gave me. You have a wonderful box this week!!!

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  2. You're getting a WONDERFUL deal on the CSA! Ours is $18 a week and this week we thought we did well: 2 zukes, 1 cuke, 4 heads of garlic, bag of potatoes, 2 bags of basil, head of cabbage. So, you got twice as much for just a little more cost. But, I'm with Kim - between the farmers market and the CSA I have trouble finding ways to eat all the produce :-) BTW - my computer doesn't like my using my Google profile so it shows as anon... Kate @kateiscooking.blogspot.com

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  3. I recently started looking into CSA's, but the ones around me seem to be fairly pricey. When I'm a little older and am feeding more than just myself on a regular basis, I'll definitely look into them again. I love the idea of them!

    I also love making my own unsweetened applesauce - I do buy the jars from time to time, but nothing beats a bowl of warm homemade with cinnamon sprinkled on top.

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  4. I get to benefit from the yummy food! Love it!

    Love always,
    Mom

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  5. All tht prodice looks amazing! Especially the mushrooms! Can't wait to see what you cook up to share with us!

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  6. This CSA is wonderful. I participated in a different farm's CSA 2 years ago and didn't get nearly the volume of produce. With 5 people in our family we don't have a lot of trouble eating everything. We also enjoy making purees that can be frozen or meals that can be frozen...so as to ensure that nothing goes to waste :)

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  7. Your CSA looks great! Our season is off to a late start thanks to the lack of Spring here in Washington so I'm looking forward to getting more variety. No fruits here though - strictly veggies and herbs!

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