Tuesday, May 12, 2009

CSA - 5/12/2009

Mystery Box

What's in the box (and bag)? The question that has plagued game show contestants for decades (including the most recent incarnation of Deal or No Deal) will now be part of my weekly schedule until September. This box comes from my local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). The idea is you find a CSA farmer sometime during winter (i.e. before produce starts growing), pay them a decent sum up front and they will provide you with weekly set of fruits and veggies for 20-25 weeks. Depending on the farm, you can also get flowers or fresh herbs in the mix as well. The farm I chose (in part because they had shares left this late into the season), is Britt Farms. They responded to my e-mail very quickly and, upon meeting them today, they were very friendly folk. Here's what I got for my first week:

The Box Revealed

Going from left to right in the picture, you can see cabbage, broccoli, unknown lettuce, real green onions, red potatoes, strawberries, red romaine lettuce, fresh peas, and green romaine lettuce. They even threw in some extra strawberries in with the pint I chose. Plus, these strawberries are more red and beautiful than the ones you buy at the grocery store. The only downside I see with all this (other than having too many veggies to eat) is that the produce comes from a farm, so there is some dirt to be washed off of most of the lettuces and potatoes. Maybe now I finally have to get me a salad spinner...

For anyone in the Triangle area, all this week a few dozen restaurants are offering special menus for a discount. Lunch is $15 and dinner is $25, for which you get to choose an appetizer, a main course and a dessert. This can be quite a deal for going to a restaurant you've been wanting to try but have not felt like dropping $20 on the entree alone. Here's the website for more details.

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