On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, our CSA farmers invited us to a Harvest/Appreciation Dinner to celebrate the closing of the season. We met in the same building near our usual bag pick-up location on UT's campus with all the other members that pick up there as well. It was a casual affair and very enjoyable. Craig and I were clearly some of the youngest members but it was neat to chat with people and hear some of their favorite preparations/recipes of many of the vegetables we received over the past 26 weeks. One of my co-workers signed up for the extended season for October & November so she and her husband sat with us as well.
Our farmers, John & Diane, are such great people. With the help of their "farmhands", they served us a home-cooked meal showcasing several of their own seasonal (or preserved) foods. On our menu, were:
butternut squash soup
pasture-raised and slow-roasted beef
kohlrabi strips
kale chips
homemade local bread and herb butter
and
raspberry petit fours
(from raspberries that were harvested and frozen earlier in the season)
While we ate, John & Diane shared a brief history of how their 4th generation, 300-acre, Tiffin farm developed into becoming a CSA farm. They also took time for any questions we had on our minds, generating lots of interesting facts and discussions. And later, before we left, Craig and John had some one-on-one "farm talk" about planting and equipment, etc that I listened in on. :)
Next to breastfeeding my babies, this has easily been one of the best decisions I've ever made to strongly impact the nutritional health and knowledge for our family. There is so much good that comes from knowing where our food is grown, by whom and how! More often than not, children and adults believe that food simply comes from the grocery store (or fast food restaurant). Seeing and tasting foods that are grown locally and knowing that they are chemical-free and not requiring excessive amounts of fuel and money to transport them across the country/world is just so important. It's one of the many valuable lessons I want my children to grow up with and carry on to their adult lives... for their own health and well-being, as well as that of our planet!
So while we will thoroughly enjoy this winter season, I will also be counting down the weeks to the start of another food growing season next spring and summer. We've registered for the 2012 CSA season with Riehm Farms and this year we are expanding our shares! I still feel that the "split share" of vegetables (one large grocery bag of vegetables per week... as opposed to the "standard share" of two) is still plenty for us. I can't imagine being able to stay on top of two full bags. Our split vegetable share will once again cost $16 per week, or $320 over the 20-week period. But next year, we will also be signed up for the split share of fruit as well, which was something I wished hadn't already sold out when I registered last year. The fruit share is also completely local, with some of the fruits grown by neighboring farms that the Riehms trust for their growing practices. The split share is one type of seasonal fruit per week for $3.75 per week, or $75 over the 20-week season.
But wait! There's more!
In order to enhance the variety of fresh, local, healthy foods offered, the Riehms have decided to team up with Healthy Bakes, started by a local woman named Catharine Ryder who makes homemade, all-natural spelt bread loaves and has been selling them at Riehm Farms home market for several years now. Spelt is an ancient grain that contains more protein and crude fiber than wheat. It is also an excellent source of B vitamins and several important minerals. Spelt has a higher water solubility, so it is easier to digest and many people with wheat allergies can use spelt.
Here's what else Catharine says about Healthy Bakes:
"All of our artisan breads are made with certified organic spelt grown right here in northwest Ohio. It is milled in Millersburg, Ohio and sold directly to us. Every loaf is hand made using recipes that were handed down and adding a unique twist by incorporating dried fruits, nuts, seeds and our seasonal fresh & dried organic herbs. The taste is not unlike wheat bread but nuttier in taste and softer and fluffier in texture."
The bread share comes with an option of getting one, two or three loaves delivered with the regular vegetable bags, just once per month... or a total of five deliveries from June-October. All the bread can be frozen for up to six months, but my kids are not at all particular about bread so we will have no problem consuming a variety of loaves on a monthly basis. I decided to go with the three loaves per month package for $65 total. Broken down that would be 15 loaves at an average of $4.33 per loaf. Kinda' pricey for bread but, again, the value of it being fresh, local and a much healthier grain makes it worth a try in my opinion. Yes, I could make my own bread and I do plan to give the bread machine a try this winter (eventually) but in the summer when it's all I can do to stay on top of the garden, the vegetable bags and the u-pick fruit, there's no way I'm going to find the time to bake fresh bread. And that has been on my list of dietary changes I've wanted to make since reading Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver last year (?). Plus, even if I made my own bread, I wouldn't be using local, organic flour unless I figured out where/how to get that too. So I'm super excited about this new bread share option!!
So! Once a month, our bread share will include the following:
1 focaccia bread
+
1 whole slicing loaf (for sandwiches, etc)
+
1 of these three options (they will change it up for variety): French banguette, "Snail" bread (slightly sweet breakfast or snacking bread usually containing nuts, dried fruits or cinnamon) or Italian loaf
Sounds yummy, right?
So, just to recap quickly...
We're looking at a total bill of $460 (or $23 per week) for the 20-week period. I distinctly remember my grocery bill plummeting by about July last year as we were meal planning around our vegetables and our additional ingredients seemed very minimal. Next year, with some fruit and bread included, I'm sure it will be even less grocery shopping needed. I'll try to give an idea of how the grocery bill changes as the CSA season progresses.
I can't wait! It's going to be a delicious summer in 2012!!! And another healthy one too!
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