CSA, Week 9

August 20 was the ninth week of our CSA (Waldingfield Farm, pick-up point Sandy Hook Organic Farmer's Market).

Our bounty:


- patty pan squash
- kale
- green onions
- Asian eggplant
- blue potatoes
- lots of different tomatoes
I'm not sure which is which---here are the choices:


Local meal, no challenge:
- grilled beef filet from Laurel Ridge Farm in Litchfield, CT
- baked blue potato from Waldingfield
- patty pan squash sauteed with green onions and tomato (all from Waldingfield) in olive oil and a tad of chicken broth, salt and pepper (from out there). I used very little seasoning to allow the natural flavors of the vegetables to dominate.

Another Locavore Vacation Day

After spending most of the day in outlets in Manchester buying clothing made in China and Indonesia, we went down to Bennington to their Farmers Market.

We scored:
- organic beets, carrots, garlic, purple "green" beans, Chinese eggplant, and eggs from Wildstone Farm
- organic watermelon from Mighty Food Farm
- corn from Darling Farmstand
- San Marino plum tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, and peppers from the Youth Horticulture Project (grown at Mount Anthony Middle School)
- blueberries (no spray) from Apple Hill Orchard
- multi-grain bread from Avonlea Farm Brick Oven Bakery



We feasted:


The "casserole" consists of a bottom layer of hamburger, topped with a sauteed vegetable medley (one of every vegetable we bought, except for the beets and corn, shown separately), topped with Cabot extra sharp cheddar (it's local here!) and baked just enough to melt the cheese.

CSA, Week 7

I'm not usually the member of the household who gets to go to the Sandy Hook Organic Farmers' Market for our CSA pick-up. The market is open from 2-6 PM and I'm not generally in the neighborhood during those hours. However, this week it needed to be me and so I went.

Boy, have I been missing out. This is a most excellent Farmer's Market. There's music, fresh popcorn, and the pop-up tents are arranged like like a little village.



August 5 was the seventh week of our CSA (Waldingfield Farm, pick-up point Sandy Hook Organic Farmer's Market). Our bounty included:


- lots of red lettuce
- green beans
- patty pan squash
- cucumbers
- green bell peppers
- heirloom tomatoes
- yellow squash
- kale
- jalapeno and chili peppers

Patrick of Waldingfield Farm, serving a customer:


My local dinner (no challenge) was:
A salad of red lettuce (from Waldingfield), a sliced hard-boiled egg (from Arno's in Kent), shaved cheese (from Sankow's Beaver Brook), basil (from Stoneledge Hollow), and a sliced pickled jalapeno (from Sister CG at Bluestone Farm). I drizzled some of Waldingfield's salad dressing over it.

Foraging, 7/19/08

Today's forage was a solo effort. I packed up the cooler, camera, and a notebook. And coffee. Can't forget the coffee. (Yes, I'm the kind of locavore that consumes things that don't or won't grow here.)

The first stop was the Bethel Farmer's Market. The season opening was last week, but I missed that one. As you can see from the photo, the place was humming. Since I belong to a CSA, I really don't need much more food, but I like to see what's available and you never know, someone could be growing something that my farmer isn't. I scored:
- arugula from Newtown Cedar Hill Farm (Hi Frank!)
- blueberries from East Windsor and eggs from Arno's Farm in Kent, both from Maple Bank's tent.



Goatboy soaps (with the kids) and Vaszauskas Farm from Middlebury, CT were also there.



Additionally, there were some tents with locally produced handcrafts. I generally go to these looking for food, but locally crafted merchandise certainly fits in with the basic idea.

Then it was off to New Morning in Woodbury to get my raw milk and a few other sundries. I really like their dried organic mangoes better than anyone else's (even Trader Joe's). Theirs actually taste like mangoes. No, they're not local and I suspect mangoes will never be (well, as long as the climate in zone 6 doesn't change).