My Weekly Produce Box

Tonight I enjoyed a tasty salad of mixed greens and radishes from a local farm. I added walnuts, Morningstar Farms Chik'N Strips Meal Starters, and Amy's Goddess dressing. Easy and tasty = my kind of dinner. Sadly this is the first time I've had fresh veggies in over a week. I'm starting to get lazy on the whole fresh fruit and veg thing. Luckily, I planned ahead for this: I joined a CSA last month! Now I get a box of fresh, local vegetables every week. I also get pasture-fed eggs (which are amazing...I could devote a whole post to them).

For those of you who don't know what a CSA is (p.s. I didn't either until 3 months ago), it is basically an agreement you make with a local farm to financially support their farming and they provide you an allottment of fresh produce. My farm is in Hillsborough. For the next 4-5 months, I pick up a box of veggies and a dozen eggs every Thursday. I got my sister, Ashley, to join with me so that we could reap the benefits at a lower cost - I just cook for myself and my boyfriend 1-2 times a week so I didn't think I'd use the whole box. So far it's working out really well. It's also fun figure out how to make foods I might not normally eat -it forces you to go outside of your routine. I actually had to look up several of the greens to find out what they were. Tomorrow I'm trying lambs quarter for the first time - it's supposed to be even better for you than spinach! Here's to hoping it tastes as good...

If you're interested in getting your own weekly produce, you can probably find one close to you just by googling "CSA near _______ (your town, state)." I found this one just surfing the internet and per both a co-worker's and friend's recommendation. The CSA's usually deliver to pick-up locations. If you don't have time for that, my co-worker Kimberly found an online service that delivers straight to her house at www.theproducebox.com. I also know the owner of www.bellabeanorganics.com that is similar, delivering to Durham, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro.