Our Garden, Farmer’s Market, CSA and Everything Else

It has been a busy couple of weeks of work, life, kids, family, gardening, reading and everything else. To sum it up:

Our seedling our finally planted in the ground in our vegetable garden in the back. We finished this yesterday. My husband finished digging up a foot deep of dirt. Then he rented a tiller and tilled up the earth with all of our compost, some composting leaves from two doors down, and Organic Soil from Miracle Grow. Then we built up little hills and transplanted the seeds. I will need to take pictures and post them on here.

This is what we have in the ground: pumpkin, watermelon, cantelope, cucumber and one garlic. We made hills for the watermelon, cantelope and the pumpkin. I suggested a 4 sided t-p trellis like the one in the Organic Gardening book for the cucumbers. My husband grabbed a few long branches my neighbor cut from the crape Myrtle when it fell in our back yard during Hurricane Ike. He cut several branches in order to help me raise the Crape Myrtle back up. It looks ugly now, but its thriving strong with leaves and even flourished with flowers a few months back. When my husband came home he cut the cut branch’s into smaller straighter branches. He grabbed four of these yesterday. Collected them at the top with wire and spread the bottom. Once the trellis was made he placed in the garden. He can make trellis so easily. You should see the simple but affective one he made for the jasmine in the front yard.

The okra seedlings are still in a pot waiting for a bigger pot. We are having trouble finding free large containers for our container garden vegetables. There just has to be a place were we can just go pick up free large containers someone else doesn’t want. I will have to try freecycle again. We would also like to find large containers to make our own rain barrels. These would be very helpful because where we live sometimes we can go weeks without rain. Using our fresh water gets expensive.

Our Topsy Turvey has 3 small green tomatoes quickly growing on the vine. I can’t wait to taste them. My neighbor’s Topsy Turvey has six. He tease us constantly about our little tomatoes.

Our herbs…..not doing so well. They look weak and small in their beautiful homemade wooden container. We think it either a drainage issue or a too much sun issue. We are planning this week to visit the botanical gardens near by to ask in hopes for the correct answer. A friend of mine from work also suggested Randy Lemmon. He’s a radio gardener.

Our CSA meat came on May the 30. This is what we got:

Beef Liver (I still have the last one)
Whole Chicken
Beef Sirloin Steak (2)
Hot-Piggity- Dogs
Top Round Roast Beef
Pork Shoulder Roast
Smoked Jowls
Ground Brisket Beef (2)
Ground Beef (2)
Ground Pork
Beef Cutlets

As always the meat is delicious and I am so happy to be eating meats that are healthier for my family, kinder to the animals (compared to other places), healthier for the environment, and helps support a local farm. I absolutely love the customer service from here and I always look forward to Honi’s newsletters. She is so cheerful and gives great cooking tips and recipes. The only downfall is the price and the amount. I’m trying to use the amount of meat we eat for our health for our pocketbook and for the animals, but one day I made a meal that obviously didn’t have enough meat for my husband or even my kids. He loved the taste of the meal but was upset that there wasn’t more meat. We ate less meat at this meal than recommended per meal per person. Usually this isn’t a problem because I have nuts or mushrooms or a starch, but on that day we were running low on everything, but vegetables and the other CSA meat varieties. I really do wish I was a better cook.

Our CSA veggie pickups have had a lot of squash. A lot! So, we’ve eaten a lot of squash lately. We are pretty much all squashed out, but I made a squash dish everyone liked yesterday. I cut the squash into small pieces. Sauteed them in butter and garlic. Added salt, black pepper, and a bit of lemon pepper.

This past Saturday we shopped at a farmer’s market as well as visited a farm and bought some of their fresh picked veggies at the little shop they had on their farm. The farm was huge. I’m still shy about asking farmers how they grow their food in fear they’ll become defensive like one woman farmer did months ago, but I did ask if they gave tours. I am interested in showing my girls what a farm is and does. The women apologized and said only in groups, like a school group. Oh well, maybe next year I can convince my daughter’s school to take a field trip to the farm.

The rest of this week will be busy too. School is out, but work isn’t.

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8th CSA Pickup and the Garden

This weeks CSA pickup had a white fruit/vegetable in it. My husband says it is a squash. I’ve never seen it before in my life. I’m excited to try it. We also received another bulb of fennel. When I noticed I looked at my husband and asked, “another one?” He said he mentioned to the people at the pick up site that we still had the other two fennel and didn’t know what to do with them. He said one lady looked at him weird and just said she eats it raw. When he told me what she said I looked at him weird and said “raw!” I’ve had a few nibbles of the stuff and raw isn’t exactly yummy. So while he took the girls swimming (it was my turn today, but he told me he would rather go and I cook today) I looked up some recipes with fennel (the baby in my arms). The recipes I used yesterday evening for dinner were: Sauteed Chicken Breast With Fennel and Rosemary from Cooking.com and Fennel & Parmesan from EatingWell.com. The main dish was the Sauteed Chicken Breast With Fennel and Rosemary and the side dish was the Fennel & Parmesan. We also had fresh boiled organic broccoli on the side. Well it was actually HEB frozen organic broccoli, but it tasted fairly fresh.

How did I and my family like the dishes I made with fennel? The cooking fennel made the house smell tasty. The look of the fresh fennel looked tasty. The taste of the chicken with fennel was delicious. The fennel with Parmesan…not so much, but I finally figured out what fennel reminds me of -black jelly beans. I never liked jelly beans so eating a vegetable/herb that taste like jelly beans doesn’t score high marks in my book. I also don’t like the fennel texture, but I guess the lady that eats it raw does like the texture and taste. To each her own. Oh well, at least we (my family) found out we liked Fennel better cooked than raw. My girls, husband and I loved the flavor of the chicken thanks to the cooked fennel. If we get another bulb of fennel I will have to try this recipe again.

Today I may try the Tomato-Fennel Soup recipe I found on Eatbetteramerica.com. It requires a bulb of fennel for the recipe, but all I have left are the leaves and stems. I’ve read and heard the leaves and stems are very eatable too. I hope so or a lot of fennel will be going to waste. I also read it is best to eat fennel as soon as you get it or it looses its freshness and flavor. That makes sense.

This week I hope to experiment with all the squash we received last week and this week. I will have to look recipes up for the white squash. First I have to find out what it is called.

By the way my husband and I were discussing at dinner yesterday evening while eating the fennel dishes if the veggie CSA was worth it or not. I mentioned to him, “It’s a 30 min drive there and another 30 back. It is during traffic hours and we have to drive through a busy highway. In addition we still haven’t received but more than a bag a week of veggies and so far we don’t like or know how to eat a lot of them (like the bitter green leaves and the fennel)”. I told him it is more trouble than it is worth and that I am considering switching next year to one of the other farms in the area because even if we receive more and better fruit the rest of the year from this farm it is still a far drive through a busy highway during traffic hour. To only come home with one bag full of veggies…just doesn’t seem logical. The other CSA are more expensive and produce less weeks but at least they are closer. My husband agreed. We also both agreed that the meat CSA is worth it (though not much meat is provided per month and though it is expensive) because the meat taste absolutely wonderful (except the liver). They also deliver the meat to our door. This isn’t a CSA necessity. I don’t mind picking the foods up so long as they are not too far away or at very inconvenient times, but since the meat CSA does deliver it makes it all the more convenient. So instead of eating out we eat in. We still save money that way. In addition the meat CSA provides a very interesting and charming newsletter with each delivery, they gave us a free recipe book on the first delivery and they continue to provide us with recipes in the newsletters or via email when we ask them how to eat certain meats. We will very likely stay with the meat CSA next year.

In the mean time my husband and I are still working on our organic garden in hopes that by next year we can grow some of our own fruit and veggies. We have watermelon and melon and some herbs in pots right now. We are using a mixture of our very own compost soil and organic miracle grow soil in the pots. Our Topsy Turvy Tomato is growing well too. I believe I see the beginnings of flowers on some of the stems. I smile at the thought of my own tomatoes. My neighbor’s Topsy Turvy is doing very well too. He already has flowers on his. My husband is out tending to the garden now. I better get at it too before the baby wakes up….oh he just woke up.

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5th CSA Veggie Pick Up & Sugar Crystals

Now that my husband is home he will help me pick up the veggies, just as he did this past Tuesday. He brought home some beets, something called broccoli greens and the same old leafy greens as before. The beets were much smaller this time but they still looked beautiful. Since then we have been experimenting with many recipes and I am happy to say we have finally found the perfect recipe for leafy greens. Sauteed in a mixture of olive oil, butter, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and a bit of lemon juice and lemon zest we serve it with a plate of Hamburger Rice Skillet. The groundbeef is from the CSA meat of course. The recipe for the Hamburger Rice Skillet can be found at Allrecipes.com. We tweaked it up a bit by cooking regular organic rice in a separate pot. When the rice was done we served it. The hamburger meal was served on top of the rice and the sauteed leafy greens were placed on the side of it all. It was an absolutely wonderful meal to eat and it was so easy to make.

Yesterday, we had Meatball Soup (beef from CSA meet) found at www.makinglifebetter.com with Brussels Sprouts with Mushrooms found at Allrecipes. The mushrooms we used for the Brussels Sprouts with Mushrooms recipe were Shiitake. The Shiitake aren’t exactly local, but it did make these local and organically grown Brussels sprouts taste absolutely wonderful. My husband said these were the best Brussels sprouts he had ever had. Was it the recipe or the fact that they are organically grown? Not sure, but it doesn’t matter. We found something we liked and we are sticking to it.

This is what I like about being a member of the CSA. It is opening doors to new unique cooking. Sure I wish CSA memberships were less expensive and had more quantity, but at least we are learning to cook, enjoying it and eating healthy, safe and great tasting meals… well when we don’t mess something up that is. Sometimes experiment makes for a nasty meal, but sometimes it can make for a wonderful meal. And family time is suddenly filled with talk about eating healthy and topics like experimenting with cilantro vs rosemary or together.

I believe my kids are enjoying it just as much as my husband and I. I am also trying to involve them in the cooking process. Its hard though since they are so small. The good new is that it doesn’t take much to impress them. Take beets for example. A few weeks ago I peeled them for a baking recipe. The dish didn’t turn out as I hoped, but some of the peels were used to color water to color eggs. We don’t even celebrate Easter, but it is fun to color eggs. The rest of the peels were frozen to use later for coloring food or other thing at a later date.

Yesterday, I showed the girls how to make sugar crystals. It’s not really cooking, but it does involve food and boiling water with sugar. The crystals are eatable too. Now, I’m not sure if I did the experiment correctly. I think I messed up somewhere. My point is instead of the food dye called for in the recipe I used an tiny little corner of a beet peel to color the water red. It worked. Will the crystals grow? We’ll find out in a week. Either way my kids enjoyed working on this eatable science project with me. I only wish I had known how much sugar it was going to require beforehand. It panged me to have to use my not so cheap organic sugar.

Oh I almost forgot to mention the weekend og the 5th of April I made on Organic 3 layered round cake with Arrowhead Mills Organic Vanilla Cake Mix. For icing I made a lemon cream cheese icing. It was wonderful. It was the best cake and icing I have ever made. My sister the wonderful cook of the family loved the cake. I was so proud of myself. I can’t believe I impressed my sister. I aksed her to helped me apply the icing to the cake. As she showed me to apply the iceing a smile poured over her face and she went into a tranze of sorts. Suddenly she wasn’t teaching me anymore she was quietly and contently applying the icing until I snapper her out of it. I said, “I thought you were showing me”. She realized what happend and apologized. I told her not to worry I could tell she really enjoyed this sort of stuff. She agreed. I’m finally begining to understand how she feels.
Do you see the frog in the picture above?

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3rd Tuesday CSA Veggie Pickup and CSA Meat Meal Make For Fun Eating

It seems the quantity keeps getting smaller each week. I do hope it grows soon and that as the season moves on the quantity will triple. This past Tuesday I only brought home half a bag, but I will say the veggies are good and they are colorful. They even smell great. The fresh herbs are fantastic. I just wish I knew how to dry herbs and preserve the veggies so they last longer. I will have to research all of that soon. I don’t want anything to go to waste.

Today for lunch my husband and I made a salad (boiled eggs, almonds, mozzarella, carrots CSA turnips, CSA radish and CSA mixed leaf greens). I asked him to help me come up with a dressing that hides the odd texture of some of the leaves and the bitter of others so that my kids and I can eat it. We made some odd olive oil concoction. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. My daughter picked at hers. I ate what wasn’t bitter. We will have to keep trying. Why are these leaves so different from what I am use to eating? Is it a matter of getting use to them. Maybe they should only be cooked instead of eaten raw. I wish I knew more about greens. I need a chef to teach me.

For dinner I added CSA bacon (sauteed with garlic, chives, CSA cilantro) to a pot of pinto beans. Then I cooked 1 cup and a half of rice in the leftover bacon grease. There wasn’t much left over and it wasn’t as heavy or thick as nonCSA bacon. CSA bacon is much better. When the rice was done I served bowls of beans and then added the rice to the bowls. It made for a very good, nutrient and inexpensive dinner.

A few days ago I cooked CSA ground pork with CSA cabbage, chives, tomato, CSA cilantro, salt, half of a lemon juice and on the side had some refried beans. We ate the meet with fresh made tortillas from HEB. We also had slices of Avocado. The meal was delightful. A few days later I tried the same recipe, but with CSA ground beef instead. I also ran out of tomato and Avocado so. The meal was good, but not as good as with the pork.

On another night I made a turnip beat recipe I found on all recipe at Allrecipes.com, but I didn’t have pearl onions so I used what I had, chives. The recipe looked great, but I think the onion substitution I made made a difference in flavor and it wasn’t great. Well it was, but there was this bitter after taste to it that messed up this side dish. I should have also cooked it longer. The turnips and beets were not yet tender. I’ll try it again, but I’ll follow the instructions to a T next time.

One day I will also be a better cook. In the mean time I will continue to enjoy experimenting and tasting all these new foods and learning about living a healthier life.

CSA Veggie list for 3rd Tuesday includes:
Spring Salad Mix
Baby Arugula
Baby Swiss Chard
Head Lettuce
2 bunches of Turnips (this time with the leaves cut off)
1 bunch cilantro

CSA Meat list for March includes:
Ground Pork
Beef Liver
Pork Wourst
Boneless Pork Chop (2)
Pork Cutlets
Beef Ground Brisket (2)
Ground Beef (2)
Beef Chuck Roast
Pork Bacon
Beet B/I Ribeye
Beef Sirloin Steak
Whole Pastured Chicken

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Today’s CSA Meat Delivery

This is what they put in the ice box today.

1. Ground Beef (3)
2. Ground Pork (1)
3. Whole Chicken (1)
4. Beef Boneless Shoulder Roast (1)
5. Pork Ham Roast (1)
6. New York Strip (2)
7. Spare Rib (1)
8. Pork Bratwurst (1) – a sausage composed of pork, beef, or veal. The name is German, derived from Old High German brätwurst, from brät- which is fine chopped meat and -wurst, sausage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bratwurst
9. Smoked Bacon (1)
10. Beef Tail (1)
11. Fresh Bacon (1)

The first five types of meats and portion sizes of the meats will be filling however I prepare them. The rest of the meats…. I will either have to buy more meat at the grocery store to compensate, make these meats into stews (such as the beef tail) into rice dishes or serve big portions of side dishes. I may even have to combine them. If I were a better cook I would know exactly what to do.

I have posted pictures I’ve taken to demonstrate what I mean by portion size. Its hard to explain since there is no portion or weight labeling on the packages.

The last delivery of meat lasted about as long as I thought it would (though I still have the one pork rib and the liver), but as they explained in their reply it is suppose to get better. This time there is some improvement in portion. Still I’m not sure how long I can financially afford to do this. While my husband was here on R&R I realized what a big eater he is. Though the meat may be enough to feed my two little girls and I (I count my two girls as one adult for now), I found it hard to fill him up. I ended up having to buy more food, including meat. I did this for two reasons, because he is a big eater and because the CSA amount is meant to feed two people not three. I’d like to ask the farmers if I could sign up for more, I’m sure they wouldn’t have an issue with it, but the question is….can I afford it? No I can’t. It’s hard to pay for this. I’m not sure how long I can afford to be a member. The financial situation may even be worse for us when he comes back home. I’ll just have to wait and see and try it while I can.

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