Tag Archives: CSA

At the Market in February?

Posted on February 25, 2013 by AnnieRie

Yesterday morning we headed out to Olney to check out the market and see what the vendors have in late February. It is nice to have a market near us. No need to drive to Silver Spring, Tacoma Park or Dupont Circle on the weekends.

This market is a farmers, artists, and artisan/food vendor market. In the winter it is located in and outside of the Sandy Spring Museum on Rte. 108 not far over the Montgomery County line. About ten miles from us.

Sunday was lovely. Lots of vendors were outside taking advantage of the sun.

Homestead Farms of Faulkner MD, and Orchard Breeze of Ortanna PA were two of the farms outside. I picked up greens from Homestead and grilling sausage from Orchard Breeze. I also got a few other items, butternut squash and greenhouse tomatoes out there. Went inside and found apples from Falcon Ridge. This is their last week until spring. I was looking for Our House for their organic micro greens but they only come biweekly.

Here is what I brought home.

The candied walnuts were from a vendor outside, whose name escapes me, and who isn’t on the web site. So were the spiced nuts and wasabi peas. They were the little treat for my cocktail hour last night.

As for the greens, I got some extra arugula to go with the winter mix. Filled up the salad spinner, and we are good for the week.

There is something about just picked greens. Makes me think of spring. I will be starting my indoor greens box, up in the south facing window of our bedroom. It gets the most sun to start the seeds. Last year I had a great early start.

Next week my CSA begins again. Can’t wait until my first visit to pick up at Breezy Willow. I am plowing through the freezer, using up last year’s bounty, and want those fresh veggies back in our diet.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Gardening, Local Businesses, Locavore and tagged CSA, farmer's markets, Food, gardening, local businesses, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

Garlic. Scape. Pesto.

Posted on February 17, 2013 by AnnieRie

Wonderful stuff. Even when it was frozen. It screams springtime. Makes me anticipate the coming of spring in just a few weeks.

I defrosted this pesto to have with dinner tonight. Six cubes of it from one of the freezer containers. Half was for dinner tonight and the other half for some pasta tomorrow. I have one more plastic container full of this pesto, still in the freezer. Come on springtime, so I can make some more.

I made the pesto, poured it into ice cube trays, froze it, then stored it in plastic. But now that I have those vacuum sealers I may do something different next year. I love garlic scapes. Never knew what they were until I got into the CSA, and until I saw them at the Howard County Farmers Markets. Next year I will be buying more, harvesting a few dozen of my own, and getting them from the CSA. All will go into making this lovely pesto.

These are garlic scapes. You cut them off so the garlic puts more energy into the heads of garlic than into the flower. They are more delicate than garlic cloves. Mix a cup of scapes with half a cup of parmesan and half a cup of pine nuts. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to the blender or processor until you get the right consistency. Use as soon as you can, or freeze, or put in a mason jar with a coating of olive oil, in the fridge for a week, no more. If you can keep it that long.

I use it on all sorts of stuff. Flatbread. Pizza. Pasta. Crostini. Veggies. Potatoes. Tonight it went on veggies and potatoes, served with England Acres petit filet mignons.

This was my Sunday night Eat Local Winter Dinner. Local beef. Potatoes from EA as well. Veggies from the freezer. The last from almost 10 months ago, in our winter CSA. I found them in the bottom. They, luckily, were still good. My pesto. The only nonlocal items were the spices, balsamic and the olive oil they were cooked in. Pan seared the steaks, then added oil and balsamic and finished in the oven. Steamed the veggies. Defrosted the pesto. Microwaved the potatoes, then added them to the steak pan to brown up in the oven.

Easy and good. Really easy. How hard is it to steam veggies, nuke a few potatoes, sear a steak and pop it in the oven. Dinner in less than 30 minutes.

hocofood@@@

Shopping at the Farms

Posted on February 16, 2013 by AnnieRie

Last winter I had a CSA and we did Silver Spring, Dupont Circle and Tacoma Park markets to get my local items for my winter challenge. I thought nothing of driving into DC or the suburbs to get fresh foods locally grown. At the time, I was unaware of the year round farm stores that are actually closer to me, and are now where I get my meats, produce and locally produced items like bread, milk, eggs and honey.

Every other week I head out to England Acres to get dairy, meat, winter veggies and fresh greens. Also, apples and sometimes citrus. Judy gets high tunnel microgreens and winter greens from a farm in Damascus, East Rivendell Farm.

I will be heading over to check them out some day probably a Friday when they are open. For me to add a farm to my local resources list, I like to visit and see what they have. I love the greens from East Rivendell. Today I picked up some winter salad mix, and a bag of red chard at England Acres. I believe both of them were brought in from East Rivendell. Like these greens a few weeks back.

The mix I got today includes some lovely baby dinosaur kale. I also picked up the Baby Bellas again today. And, some carrots that Judy orders from Lancaster Farm Fresh, the coop that supplies my summer CSA. The carrots are so sweet in the winter. My favorite time to buy them.

This week I made lots of soups and the lasagna, so we are eating leftovers until tomorrow night. Then, I will be making my winter weekly Eat Local Dinner, using two little 5 oz. filets I got from Judy today. We were talking out at the farm about whether I should order a side of lamb. She will be selling sides and whole lamb packages. In March and in May. After that, no fresh lamb until the fall.

I find it interesting to get meat from the local farmers. Chickens available only from May until late fall. Lamb available winter and early spring. Seasonal influences based on when the animals are ready to process. If you have never bought or cooked with locally raised, farm fresh meats, you don’t know what you are missing. Just like local eggs and local produce, that freshness and taste are unmistakable.

Only three weeks to go until my Breezy Willow Early Bird CSA starts. Still happily eating from the freezer, the pantry and a couple of trips a month to the farmstands. Can’t believe how little I get from grocery stores these days. I asked my husband last week to stop at the store for the few items I can’t get at markets, like coffee creamer, extra light olive oil for cooking and dishwasher detergent. When your total gasoline points for the month are 39 from Giant Food, you know you have changed your buying habits.

As for CSAs, the local ones are filling up quickly. Look over at localharvest.org if you want to get the freshest produce and fruit weekly. There are all sorts of sizes and types now being delivered to pick up spots all over Howard County.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Commentary, CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, West HoCo, Winter Eat Local and tagged CSA, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, Howard County, Locavore, real food, value of CSA, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

My Super Bowl Chili Recipe

Posted on February 4, 2013 by AnnieRie

Yesterday before sitting down to watch the Super Bowl, I put up a quick post without the recipe for my venison chili. This time it had less local items in it than I normally use, but I wanted to try these products out. I also have been trying different spice combinations and different textures for the chili. The first batch of chili I made in December when we got the venison delivered.

This time I put everything but the venison in the crock pot set for eight hours on low. I wanted to brown the venison in a pan on the stove with spices and add it halfway through the cooking. The venison is very finely ground and really almost disappeared in the earlier version. Venison is such a lean meat, I am learning how to treat it to get the best flavors.

I also played around with the ingredients. I used the last of a bag of sweet corn from the freezer as well as using a frozen jalapeno and grated carrot.

I started out with a can of Rotel diced tomatoes with cilantro and lime as a base. Added 12 ounces of tomato sauce from my freezer (made in August from my Amish tomatoes). Added one green pepper, bought at Roots. Added one large onion, diced, one of the last of my CSA sweet yellow onions. Put about six ounces of the sweet corn in, too.

Then, I got to grating, one small frozen carrot and one frozen blanched jalapeno.

The carrot adds that touch of sweetness. The jalapeno, grated, allows you to determine how much heat. A frozen jalapeno can be grated using the zester, and you can avoid all the seeds if you wish.

Use the tip of a knife to scrape all the jalapeno “zest” into the pot. I then added a large can of organic black beans with their liquid. My spices this time omitted cinnamon. I used chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne and white pepper. Lots of garlic powder this time. I also used cilantro. And, of course, salt to taste.

I let all of this cook for four hours. In order to thicken it up, I took out some liquid and mixed a tablespoon of corn starch in it,then returned it to the pot. This is what the pot looked like before I added the corn starch, and before I added the venison.

The venison went into a large pan to brown. A touch of grapeseed oil to keep it from sticking. Add garlic powder, salt and pepper while it is browning.

I strained it before adding it to limit the amount of fat in the crock pot. The chili when it was almost ready to serve looked like this.

My husband liked this version better than the first version in December. He specifically requested that I don’t use cumin or cinnamon, but keep it on the simpler side of spice.

But, he also suggested that I next time I should try using chipotle. After all, you can always tweak a good chili recipe.

hocofood@@@

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

The Sauce Boss

Posted on January 31, 2013 by AnnieRie

That would be me. Trying to perfect my tomato sauce. I would never have thought ten years ago to make my own sauce. Tomato sauce in a jar or can. Testing Bertolli versus Barillo versus Classico. Yep, that was me circa 1990s.

Now, I make it almost from scratch. I may use some pureed tomatoes from a can or the Pomi box. Depends on what I am doing.

Yesterday I was in the mood for spaghetti. I decided to raid the freezer and cook up some sauce.

Blanched tomatoes from the CSA. I know they will throw off lots of water. These are basic tomatoes. Blanched, peeled, seeded and frozen. To make good sauce from these, you need to thicken it. Yesterday I used some paste and a can of Muir Glen organic tomato puree. I wanted to make a thick rich chunky meat sauce.

I started with two links of Boarman’s Italian sausage. One sweet. One hot. Put in the pot with onions and peppers. Onions from Breezy Willow. Peppers from Roots.

The sausage is cooked in olive oil. A little garlic powder and Italian herbs.

The frozen tomatoes are put in another pan with more garlic powder and herbs. You need to do it this way so you can drain off all of the water from the tomatoes. Here is what the tomato pan looks like at the end of the process. I had drained almost two inches of water out of it while I was working.

Note that if you had tried to make tomato sauce with frozen whole tomatoes, it would have been extremely watery. Here is a shot of the sauce pan, with the tomato puree, the sausage mix, and as I was adding tomatoes from the other pan.

This is the type of thick meaty tomato sauce that is perfect for lasagna, or as a filling for ravioli or shells.

The finished sauce.

Meat sauce this thick can be thinned with a little pasta water. I took some of it and thinned it out and served it over spaghetti. The rest will be used with some tiny shells as a lunch later this week.

I didn’t take pics of the dinner plate, but I want to show the killer wine we served with it. A 2002 Barboursville Barbera Reserve.

After all, I need to uphold my locavore image. Local wine in an Italian style. Ten years old. Lovely. As for making the sauce, much of it was local. It was almost completely organic. The pasta was organic, whole grain. Hitting most of those Sustainable, Organic, Local, Ethical (SOLE) buttons.

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Posted in CSA, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Wine, Winter Eat Local and tagged CSA, Food, foodie, heirloom tomatoes, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Decisions, Decisions

Posted on January 28, 2013 by AnnieRie

Summer CSA decisions. The Sandy Spring site went live today for summer sign ups. I have been considering a switch as I am doing the early bird spring Breezy Willow CSA, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do for the summer.

Sandy Spring has changed what they offer. They now offer a 60% share for those who don’t want all the veggies we get in a full share. No having to split a box anymore. For me, the drawback of that share is this simple fact stated on the web site. No exotic veggies in the 60% share.

If you aren’t into things like salsify, horned melon, black radishes, Jerusalem artichokes, tatsoi, and a myriad of other items, you now can get what I call plain Jane veggies and fruit. No strange herbs either.

We signed up today. Mainly because we like the challenge of strange veggies. I did a boatload of research before deciding. Looked at blog pictures, and read what was offered elsewhere in Howard County. In the end, the challenge won out.

It does mean I have two overlapping weeks between Breezy Willow and Sandy Spring. I may be taking things to the food bank. Or, doing a fair amount of freezing items.

I still will be buying Breezy Willow eggs, meat and ice cream at the farm or the market. I decided against fruit, egg and cheese shares from Sandy Spring, and will buy those items at the Howard County farmers markets, and at the farms themselves.

Besides, it looks like we won’t have the big garden this year. I need to build a new one that will get sunshine. Our current garden is now almost completely shaded. That means, buying tomatoes to freeze.

It is time to start planning for summer. Many of the local CSAs fill up quickly. Check out what is offered, and think about bringing locally sourced foods into your home.

hocofood@@@

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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.

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore and tagged CSA, farmer's markets, Food, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

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.