Well, we ran into a wall and that wall was named “too busy to do much cooking or vegetable scrubbing.”
Damn, these organic veggies last a long, long time. We are backed up to the point that all the crisper drawers are filled to the brim with green stuff and I’m ready to feel the dogs “lettuce Kongs” (not really.) We have a lot of various lettuces and because of our schedules and unexpected detours in our schedules, we weren’t home to eat a robust green salad every night this past week. We ate the strawberries very fast.
So when this week’s share came in, I was a little anxious about storage. I’m even more anxious because after sorting through last week’s supply, I found that almost all of it is still good. So I did toss a few things into the composter but otherwise, we are on lettuce overload.
Those strawberries were amazing. So good that I ordered a flat of them this week when presented the chance. It was a good deal financially, but now we have a lot of strawberries, too. I did investigate how to freeze strawberries (it isn’t promising because I’ll have to clean out an entire shelf in the freezer which is filled, too.) I also learned that strawberries are good for dogs – in reasonable quantities. So today I made them strawberry-peanut butter Kong smoothies which they loved.
I am not going to complain about having too much food, especially organic fruits and vegetables. That’s a ridiculous thing to complain about! Fortunately, we are only in week 3 and our CSA allows us to cut back from 1 full share every week to 1 full share every other week if we like. So we’ll wait and see.
I did the math and even if I feed half the strawberries to the dogs in various concoctions, it is still cheaper than buying processed treats for them. So we are still okay financially and definitely in terms of having healthy options.
So this week we have strawberries, several types of lettuce, collards, basil and garlic scapes. We also had more radishes. Did I mention strawberries?
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One thing I’m noticing is that people can be a little judgmental about this whole CSA thing – perhaps it isn’t intended to be lecturish, but it can come across that way a bit. As I pointed out in the beginning, this is an experiment for us. I don’t mind when people offer suggestions, but the “you should” statements fly fast and furious which is a bit exasperating. If you really are a true believer, it might be best to tone it down a bit and not overwhelm people who are on week 3 of their first CSA with advice, suggestions, feedback and so forth. Some simple encouragement is probably a good start. And recipes. Simple recipes. Just please stop posting the phrase “beans and greens” on my Facebook page. 🙂
The composter? Well, it hasn’t fallen apart. We did have to block it off with bricks because our dog was able to get the “door” open a bit. Otherwise, it is a big stinky pile of probably too wet garbage. It has been turned and covered with lawn clippings (which are now completely damp, too.) I’m still sorting, clipping, and so forth. I’m glad we have a designated countertop composting collector bin because making it easy to sort the items increases the odds of success. I hung up an IKEA tote bag by the back door to collect the bits and pieces in one place. As I move through the house doing this and that, I find things that are compostable and shove them into my pockets which I empty when I walk into the kitchen.
So, overall it was learning week. We both had decent sized salads with our dinner. I’m determined to have another salad tomorrow for lunch. And apparently I’ll be cooking kale soon. I also went to pick up the order this week so had a chance to tour “Wild Purveyors” in Lawrenceville. It is a lovely store, but I honestly didn’t know what 50% of the items even are. I wanted to buy something, but all I needed was coffee. And they just had whole beans. I’ve learned not to ask for ground coffee in spaces that just carry beans – even when I explain that I cannot physically manipulate the coffee grinder that we do have (yes, it is electric), I still get that “you’re doing it wrong” look. I also don’t really need to explain that. So I’ll buy my coffee at Giant Eagle.
Our big dilemma is whether to order the delicious but pricey whole grain bread from Week One on a regular basis. I bet it would make a lettuce sandwich taste just delicious.
No cat pics this week. While they continue to take turns occupying the crate (after it is empty), they never sit still long enough for me to take a pic. Thankfully, they don’t seem interested in strawberries.
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