next season

OK kids, if you're upset about the cold, crappy November weather we had this weekend, it's a great time for you to start thinking about next summer. That's right, now is a good time to sign up for a farm share! In Massachusetts, I suggest checking out NOFA for farm listings.

I made a change for next year, and it has good and bad points to it. I am going to stick with The Food Project, because I've been really happy with the food, the staff, and their communication. I like the fact that part of their mission is to help out people who don't get enough fresh veggies.

But normally I get the on-farm share, which feeds 2-3 vegetarians. As my sister and I are not vegetarians, it's just too many vegetables. Plus, I have a busy life, and sometimes that means I miss a cooking day and have to pick up a burrito somewhere. The Food Project doesn't have half shares, but they do have box shares.

Box shares are a little smaller, designed for 1-2 vegetarians. You don't pick up on the farm. I am going to do the Cambridge box share, which is at someone's house. You go and get a box of 4-18 pounds of veggies each week. This is a little more reasonable than the 8-24 pounds you get otherwise. Also, the on-farm share is $700 this year, but the box share is $500. Less waste and less money are better all the way around.

I'll be sad not to go to the actual farm each week. It was a peaceful weekly ritual, picking parsley, tomatoes, strawberries. However, they have on-farm volunteer activities. As my #1 New Year's Resolution is going to be to do more volunteer work, the farm will be a great place to start. I wasn't able to go this year, but I'll be changing my schedule next year.

I'm steaming Brussels sprouts in my rice cooker just now. Made steamed egg rolls with farm veggies and ground beef, and cooked up a pot of lentils seasoned with onions and spices from the farm. I'm good til Thanksgiving. Tuesday, I make pumpkin pie!

bounty!

Yesterday I picked up my first ever winter share! Yay! I expected a lot, and even though what I got met my expectations...it's still a lot of food!

The share (if I can remember it all!):

• Four produce bags of root veggies, including carrots, beets, turnips, and rutabagas. I found out recently that I liked baked rutabaga, with the sweetness of a turnip and the meatiness of a potato. I think that if it had a cuter name, more people would eat it.
• 4 stalks of Brussels sprouts. This looks immense and ridiculous all together. Perhaps I'll post a pic at some point, since a lot of people haven't seen how these things grow.
• 1 cabbage.
• 1 kohlrabi.
• 1 peck of assorted apples.
• 1 bag of lettuce.
• 4 onions.
• 6 bulbs of garlic.
• 1 handful of parsley.
• 1 handful of cilantro.
• 8 pounds of potatoes.
• 3 crowns of kale or collard greens.
• 10 leeks.
• 2 butternut squash.
• 5 assorted squash.
• 1 apple pie!

It's possible I missed one or two things. I'll be bringing a lot of veggies home for Thanksgiving this year, along with a ham from Chestnut Farms. Such excitement!

Ham!

I picked up my meat share on Wednesday.

Here's the share:

• 1 3.5 maple-sugar cured bone-in ham. I already called my mom and we're going to have it as part of Thanksgiving, along with the Turkey. I'm excited to share my meat with my family!
• 2 1-pound packages of maple-sugar cured hickory smoked bacon. This stuff is great, like the bacon you get from the meat counter at whole foods.
• 1 beef flank steak
• 1 package ground beef
• chicken legs
• chicken breast

I've enjoyed cooking lately, as I've finally figured out that when I cook steak, it takes approximately 1/5 of the time I was originally comfortable with to cook it properly and have it taste good. Amazing. The meat doesn't have to be grey!

It's over!

I picked up my last veggie share at the end of October. Has been a busy couple weeks, or perhaps I was just agonizing over the final notes of voting season!

My last share was about the same, I won't post it all. We got a couple of butternut squash, I'm set for potatoes and carrots for a bit, and we got the special corn-on-the-cob popcorn! It's beautiful, full of gold and deep purple kernals. There is nothing like the light fluffy popcorn it makes. Butter is unnecessary for this stuff, just a little salt.

I made lamb chops and mashed potatoes this week, nice and hearty. This past weekend, I made amaretto scallops with bacon and it's one of the nicest recipes I've made!

I'm already missing the farm, even though it was getting dark and cold. The winter share is distributed in a local barn, so I won't be able to wander the fields come fall. I'm really looking forward to the share though!

Meat continues through the winter. Yay! There is plenty to eat!