Category Archives: CSA

Highlights from the Meet the Farmers Event

Posted on January 23, 2013 by AnnieRie

Sometimes the more you worry, the better the result. I couldn’t have expected the large turnout and the enthusiasm from last Sunday’s Conservancy program. Everywhere you looked there were people enjoying the day, talking and buying and signing up for more information.

The doors weren’t open long before many people started arriving. A steady stream for almost an hour. Over 130 people arrived and many stayed for the panel discussion. In the picture above, Denise Sharp of Sharp’s at Waterford Farm had many people buying her out of the fresh kale and cilantro she brought, and checking out the gourds, the sauces and the fresh rosemary bushes.

There were six farms there Sunday. About 50% of those I contacted. With the success of this event, we may be talking in the program committee to do other similar things in the future. I started out with a small group just to gauge the interest. Close to 150 in the room including the dozen farm representatives, some volunteers, board members, and some of the farmer’s families. I think we can call this a good day.

The people were lining up to get Bowling Green Farm Cheese.

Breezy Willow and Love Dove were getting lots of interest in their CSAs, and I saw quite a few people going out with Breezy Willow fresh eggs. Also, as I said in my post about Game Day, we got some gorgeous fresh veggies from Zahradka. Martha Clark and Nora over in their area also had lots of interest in their programs, and in buying their beef. I couldn’t get a clear shot of them due to the number of people all around the room.

The panel discussion was lively. Lots of these farms here Sunday are being run by the younger generation. They were all enthusiastic about what they are doing. Two of them are leaders in the Howard County farmers market planning for 2013. Lots of really good ideas of things to make the markets bigger and better. We can’t wait.

The panel above. Mitzi Jones, Bowling Green Farm; Casey Caulder Todd, Breezy Willow Farm; John Dove, Love Dove Farm; George Zahradka, The Zahradka Farm; Nora Crist, Clarks Elioak Farm; and Denise Sharp, Sharp’s at Waterford Farm.

A wonderful way to spend a day.

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What’s A CSA, You Say?

Posted on January 19, 2013 by AnnieRie

My husband pointed out to me that not everyone who reads this blog these days knows what Community Supported Agriculture is. Long time readers and those who participate in the Buy Local challenges with me do know about them. More and more farms are offering their customers fresh food in the spring, summer, fall, and even in winter.

Tomorrow at the Conservancy there will be a number of the local CSAs represented. Every CSA has its differences and its focus could be a very good match or maybe not a match for some people.

That is why it is nice to have the farmers come out and talk to us about them. I first approached the farmers to see if there was interest in having this session at the Conservancy sometime during their non market months. It provided them the ability to discuss in detail with you what they grow, what they offer, and how they farm. All this without the lines you encounter at our farmers markets, lines that are good for business, but don’t give you the opportunity to talk to the “source” so to speak.

I like getting my food this way. I like knowing where it came from. I don’t mind worms in my corn, as I know it means it hasn’t been sprayed from here to wherever, with whatever. I don’t know that with vegetables and fruits grown in foreign countries. And, the same with meats, dairy, cheese and eggs. Organically grown veggies. Free range chickens. Pastured sheep, cattle and pigs that run all over the farms. At less than many organic supermarkets charge.

Knowing everything is fresh. Asking about what is in them. What they feed their chickens. Seeing the farms themselves when picking up my food. Maybe it takes a bit of work to clean off the soil, but at least it isn’t waxed or treated to look pretty.

Getting back to the CSAs. Differences. Some include eggs. Some include bread. Some include meat. We did Zahradka last winter. They deliver to your doorstep in the winter. In the summer, they are at Glenwood market, and also deliver a number of other places in Howard County.

During the winter last year we chose a small share. Six items that we chose online. That week I chose broccoli, baby beets, celery, sweet potatoes, large Spanish onion and mixed greens. For meat that week we got ground beef from a farm in northern MD. Every other week we got eggs. Just enough for two people.

Other CSAs are different. Some offer half shares, and quarter shares. Some have pick ups only at the farm, and you weigh or count out your items. Gorman Farm does this. If you live on the east side of Howard County they are really convenient, and have a farm stand to get other items.

Breezy Willow offers pick up at the farm, or has drop off locations. We will be getting an early bird share this March and picking it up at the Farm. Right now we go out to the farm on Saturdays when they are open to get what is currently being harvested, and to pick up eggs. No winter CSA for us this year. The timing of drop off didn’t work this year.

Love Dove comes to two local Howard County markets and has pick up points for their summer and fall CSA. Love Dove is a small CSA and fills up quickly with people wanting their veggies grown following organic practices. There are other small CSAs in the county. Not everyone coming to our event, but localharvest is the place to go to see what is out there.

Many who aren’t attending our event are completely full every year. Shaw Farms is one. Roundabout Farms is another. Larger cooperatives also deliver to the area. One Straw Farm comes to Dorsey Hall and MOM’s Organic Market. They are a 2000 member coop, that has been around a long time. Sandy Spring, my summer and fall CSA, is an Amish coop that delivers all around Howard and Montgomery County. They have 500 members here, and the coop is 80 farmers around Lancaster.

Any one of these is good for you, if it fits your taste and your family size. I love the diversity of Sandy Spring, for the exotic veggies we get. But, I have the time to cook and the freezer to use it all. It isn’t a value if your family isn’t into veggies, fruits, and herbs.

What do you do with salsify?

Some people did swap it, but I made fritters. Tastes like oysters.

Are you interested in foods from local farmers? Come tomorrow the 20th to ask them all about it. At the Conservancy, 2-4 pm. Old Frederick Road. No charge.

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Pumpkin Hummus Take Two

Posted on January 18, 2013 by AnnieRie

It looks like an explosion from my spice rack.

That’s almost everything other than the chickpeas, sriracha and the roasted squash. Two cans of chickpeas. Three roasted squash.

I roasted the squash yesterday. Scooped it out, other than the stuffed ones that will be part of dinner Sunday. Easy to reheat before the Ravens game. To make the hummus, I decided to just do it all by taste.

Put two cans of chickpeas in the processor. Add roasted garlic, I used six cloves. Salt, pepper, all the other spices, a heaping tablespoon of tahini, a teaspoon of sriracha, a drizzle of sesame oil, lemon juice. Mix it all up. Taste. Add the squash. There were three cups of squash. Adjust as you go.

I really enjoy messing around with the last of the CSA squash. This recipe made the equivalent of three containers of store bought hummus. This is garlicky, spicy, sweet and hot all at the same time. A perfect appetizer for a Championship football game. Got to go get some pita chips.

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Posted in CSA, Food, Locavore, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Come Meet Your Local Farmers

Posted on January 16, 2013 by AnnieRie

This Sunday the 20th from 2-4:30 the Howard County Conservancy is presenting a program featuring our local farmers. Come and meet the faces behind the farms. Farms that participate in our markets, that have seed sales, pumpkin patches, mazes, fall festivals, farmstands and CSAs.

Particularly the CSAs. Many of the farms will be explaining how their CSAs work. Here is a shot of last year’s April delivery from Zahradka.

Typical April CSA items

If you are interested in learning more, come join the discussions. Besides having information available a few of the farms have items for sale. Like cheese. Honey. Eggs. You can also find out how and where to get local beef, lamb and pork from our farmers.

Farms include: Clarks, Sharp, Breezy Willow, Love Dove, Bowling Green, Zahradka, and Gorman. Maybe you have visited their stands. Maybe bought their items at the markets in Howard County.

Love Dove, at market, also has CSA

Do you know where they are located? How long the land has been farmed? What they now farm and any changes over the years?

There will be an informal panel discussion at 3 pm, with the participants. Ask what they grow, what they love most about farming, what are they planning in their futures?

Check out all the great products brought to us from our local farms. How about seedlings for your herb or vegetable garden?

heirloom tomato seedlings and plugs – Sharp’s farm

Did you know you can order meat to pick up at Clark’s on Saturdays? Or, stop out at Breezy Willow for eggs, meat, dairy and winter veggies? Find out what is available year round. It may be winter but there is quite a bit available to support our local farmers.

Breezy Willow in January

Join us Sunday!

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Winter Eat Local Challenge Breakfast

Posted on January 13, 2013 by AnnieRie

The easy meal for my Eat Local all Winter challenge. The challenge is to eat at least one meal a week from locally sourced items. Most of this last week, I have had local items in almost every meal, but Sunday breakfast is the easiest to make.

Particularly, eggs, bacon and toast.

I never get tired of these lovely eggs. Rich orange yolks. My eggs come from three local farms, depending on where I go to pick up other items. These are Breezy Willow eggs. I also now have England Acres eggs in the fridge, and some weeks when I get to TLV, I will buy eggs from them. All are from free range hens.

The England Acre hens, in their portable fenced in area, that is moved around to allow them to find good things to eat. It doesn’t seem to deter a few hens, including this one who “flew the coop” and was wandering around towards the parking lot. Out at England Acres, Judy has small bags of feed that she keeps for children to buy and go out to feed the chickens. An easy way to teach the little ones about the chickens. They are funny. They all run in the direction of any children who come to the farm, even abandoning the area where their feed is located.

I learned a technique for doing eggs. I use just a touch of unsalted butter in the pan, and a splash of extra light olive oil after the butter starts browning. Put in the eggs. Let them cook until white is set, then gently spoon the hot oil over the yolks to set them. Nice sunny side up eggs, perfectly finished. The bacon in the pan added just a bit of fat. I only used a few small pieces of already cooked bacon. The bacon came from TLV, and I cooked up a package to use in a number of meals. It will be used in the mofongo I am making tonight, to use those plantains I bought.

After I defrost the bacon, I cut it in quarters and fry the entire package. I save the grease in a jar in the fridge to use if I am going to make venison, as venison is so lean. This time I didn’t save it, because I have some from a few weeks back when I made chili. Amazing how much fat there is in bacon, isn’t it? This bacon is destined mostly for the mofongo, and for some homemade bacon dressing I will be making for spinach salad topping, and for potato salad to use up the last of my CSA potatoes. One bout of cooking. Four different uses for it. Multitasking again.

As for the toast today, it was Spring Mill Bread. This has become my husband’s second favorite toast bread. After Atwater’s. Too bad Atwaters isn’t in the Olney winter market. Canela is. We have so many great bread makers in the area now. Easy to get a locally produced loaf of fresh bread. Let’s see. Atwater’s, The Breadery, Bonaparte, Great Harvest, Spring Mill, Canela, Stone House. At the markets and some local stores, look for freshly baked whole grain bread,

Seven Grain Crunch. The reason I love this bread is the lack of preservatives, dairy and oils. Yes, I am sometimes bad and put Trickling Springs butter on it, but I love it with just a touch of local jam, or some of my crushed berries from the freezer. Toast to mop up all that lovely yolk left on the plate from the eggs.

Sunday breakfast is a very easy way to make local foods part of your weekly dining.

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Sixty @ Sixty Using the Yacon

Posted on January 4, 2013 by AnnieRie

My personal challenge in turning sixty. Use six new exotic veggies. Tonight it was the yacon. Remember the yacon? The weird veggie in my CSA just before Christmas.

Yacon is a relative of the sunflower and the Jerusalem artichoke, only slightly sweeter. Grown mostly in the Andes, this veggie made its way to our home in our organic CSA box, from the Amish in Lancaster. I found a recipe that used it raw in a salad with other fruits and veggies. I decided to try it out this way.

Shaved with the mandoline. Paired with apple, carrot and greens. Finished with pomegranate seeds, pistachios and pepitas. Sprinkled with goat cheese feta.

The salad, and a roasted chicken, were dinner tonight. Served with a Glen Manor wine. The chicken from a local farm. The wine, one of my favorite Sauvignon blancs out there. It tastes like a New Zealand wine.

But the star of the dinner, I have to admit, was the Stone House multigrain bread. Taken out of the freezer and baked for 15 minutes. Crisp crunchy crust. Tons of flavor. It was the highlight of dinner. Thank you TLV farms, for having them at the tree cutting days at the local farm. I stocked up in the freezer with their breads.

Back to mostly local cooking, and good for us veggies. The holidays are over, but good food is still out there. Oh, and the other highlight of the dinner. My birthday roses are still hanging in there. Way to go, Raimondis.

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Fall CSA Final Analysis

Posted on December 27, 2012 by AnnieRie

It feels strange not picking up a CSA today. Since the first week of May 2011, we have had CSA pickups or deliveries every week, but two, for over 20 months. Well, at least I get to visit lots of local markets including the new indoor Olney market starting in a few weeks. Plus, the Saturday farm stands at Breezy Willow, TLV and England Acres. England Acres will continue to offer Lancaster Farm Fresh veggies that they buy wholesale from the same cooperative that supplies our summer and fall CSA. Fun to go out there and see the same unique varieties that were in our box during the week.

I did a final analysis of what we got, and what it might have cost us to buy organic veggies for the same time we got our fall CSA deliveries. We had seven deliveries, missing one due to the hurricane. They made up for it in volume. Lots of heavy deliveries of things like potatoes, squash and turnips.

The most unusual items were: yacon, which is still in the fridge. It is destined to become a fritter with a few of the carrots, maybe over the weekend. Viola turnips, an heirloom variety, long and thin, but tasty. This is also the first year we got popcorn. And, many new varieties of squash, like Thelma Sanders, Jarrahdale, carnival and seminole.

The priciest items to buy at the store seem to be organic leeks. They cost $2.99 each at Harris Teeter, and at Wegmans. We got nine of them, which would have cost me $27 to buy. And, organic celery. We got 8 bunches of celery. Not as big as those in the store, but in the store they cost a whopping $3.49 each at Harris Teeter and $2 each at Wegmans. I used the $2 each for my final tally.

Lots of potatoes. Red potatoes. Russett potatoes. Beauregard sweet. White Hamon sweet. Japanese sweet. Fingerlings of many colors. Organic potatoes cost either $1 or $1.29 a pound, depending on where you find them. All told, we got 31 pounds of potatoes.

There were 44 unique items this fall. Not bad for seven weeks. By unique, I mean with slight variations, like French heirloom carrots versus purple carrots. Or, four different types of turnips. Five different squash varieties.

The total, sort of. I had to round it out a bit and I didn’t have exact weights to the ounce, but it came out to about $307 worth of veggies. The cost was $250 for a subscription. Not as good of a comparison as you get with a summer CSA, as many items in the fall are very reasonable in price, like scallions and potatoes. Sweet potatoes cost $1 a pound.

Will we do it again next fall? Yes, as I have found it easy to use up most of the items and that they do well in the crisper drawer for weeks. The last of the potatoes and onions and squash will be used during January, meaning I won’t need to buy any until February and my early bird Breezy Willow CSA starts in March. Then, it’s a weekly trip out to the farm for pick up.

On a final note, thanks to Erin and Dan, who ran Sandy Spring CSA, and who are retiring. The local CSA is supplied by Lancaster Farm Fresh and has close to 1000 members in the DC,NoVA, Montgomery and Howard County area. We will have new leaders in May, and will be back getting our summer delivery to Columbia. Until then, I will be savoring more of the goodies from the freezer that I put away last summer.

Stay tuned to hear how I will now be using the vacu-seal my brother is giving me. He and his wife no longer use it, and they know I will put it to good use.

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Home for the Holidays

Posted on December 25, 2012 by AnnieRie

Loving the fact that we don’t have to travel on the holidays anymore. Getting up when we want, and having a leisurely breakfast. Watching the animals in the yard, and watching the snow melt. Hearing my neighbor’s children running around out in the last of the snow. Just one of the reasons we came here. Peace. Quiet. Doing what we want for the day.

A couple of Breezy Willow’s eggs, over easy. Served with Spring Mill honey wheat bread, and Trickling Springs butter. A nice cup of coffee. The view out the dining room window. Still snow on the ground.

What did you get for Christmas? We always pick one thing we want and go and get it. I wanted a new lasagna pan. He wanted a rotor (rotator) for his tower. Obviously, we feed our hobbies.

My new pan:

I think it is much better than his refurbished, newly painted, good as new, rotor. It came back the other day. Looks brand new.

I did put a flat iron steak in the crock pot, to cook all day and enjoy with an old wine, for dinner tonight. Rubbed with the dry rub mix that I put together as part of the gifts for my relatives.

The flat iron steak came from England Acres. And, all the veggies in the pot are CSA, so this will be a mostly local Christmas dinner. The dry rub came out nicely.

Garlic powder is predominant in my spice rubs. This one is for beef and venison. It also includes peppers, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, savory and just a small amount of salt. I think I am forgetting something, but since I just wing it with spice rubs, it comes out fine. The house does smell wonderful at the moment. Dessert tonight will be a few of my orange chocolate truffles I made. With the last of the wine, after dinner, while watching Santa Paws II. Does Christmas get any better?

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Venison Pot Roast

Posted on December 23, 2012 by AnnieRie

Lean Cuisine. Really lean cuisine. I always knew how lean venison is. And, how you can end up with tough dry meals if you don’t treat it right. Tonight I treated it right.

Made in the crock pot. Almost completely local. Greens, onions, turnips, carrots, all from the CSA. Stock I made a few weeks back.

Mushrooms and egg noodles from a trip to England Acres. Venison from a local hunter, at a farm across the way. The only thing not local in this meal was the condensed organic cream of mushroom soup I bought at the store. One of the newer soups from Pacific.

I just put it all in the crock pot and let it go, for 8 hours on high. I added the noodles the last two hours. Put a little water in it to cook the noodles better.

Served it all with a wonderful huge Virginia wine, the 2009 Hardscrabble designation from Linden.

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Shopping at the Farms

Posted on December 22, 2012 by AnnieRie

It was a vow I made, to support local farmers. Eat more local foods, and even if they cost more, buy them and just adjust how much we eat. It is really easy around here to do that.

You don’t have to fight crowds with carts at grocery stores for many items. I learned to love markets in France. Our first trip to Provence.

My dream home. Provence. If I had my way, I would live there. I speak passable French. Understand more than I can articulate. Fell completely in love with the food and the land, and would move in a heartbeat to live that life style. Shopping for fresh foods locally. I didn’t have pictures of the live chickens. You picked the one you wanted and they dispatched it for you.

So, I do the next best thing. I shop here at our local farms. Even in the winter they are open for business. Today I went food shopping at two farms and one farm stand. We decided to take a ride because it was cold, windy and we didn’t feel like fighting crowds in stores and malls. The itimerary: Breezy Willow, England Acres and Baughers in Westminster.

On a mission. For holiday ice cream. Eggs. Fixings for tomorrow’s venison roast. And, possibly to have lunch at Baughers. I did get some great things there, like out of date peanuts, that they sell for $2.99 a case to feed the birds and the squirrels. Celery and mushrooms. Pears. Mixed nuts in the shell. The mushrooms for the venison roast. The celery to use to make some soup next week.

From Breezy Willow, pumpkin ice cream. Eggs. Great Harvest whole wheat flour, since I am running out of flour from baking.

From England Acres. Cauliflower. Spring Mill Bread. Sausage. Onions. Popcorn. Honey. Goat cheese. Baby Spinach. By the time I came home, I have all I need to make dinner tomorrow, and to make soup next week. And, a salad tonight. England Acres now is buying wholesale from Lancaster Farm Fresh, the cooperative that supplies my CSA. All winter. Open Saturday and Sunday, I can pick up fresh organic veggies from the same farms that supply me my CSA for 33 weeks a year. How can I go wrong with them? They have been my major source of food for the past 20 months. Love what they grow.

So, I use Roots, Wegmans, Harris Teeter and Costco for staples I can’t get at the markets. But, year round, we have great stuff not far from us. Fresher than foods flown and trucked in from across the country and the world. I just wish we had something like this up the road. The Arles market.