Fall Weather!

We have been loving the change in seasons from Summer to Fall! Its always a little sad to see summer and warm weather leave, but the crisp, cool autumn mornings that warm up in the afternoon sun have made it wonderful. I know it was not this cool last September because I was very, very pregnant, swollen, and totally bummed that "fall" had not brought any relief from the summer heat. I'm even more ready for fall this year because of that, I think!

Check out these beautiful colors! Our CSA food this week is beautiful. We have a lovely assortment of peppers (orange, red, and purple), more colorful heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, and a lettuce mix and mesclun (an Asian lettuce mix that has a nice little bite to it).

We also took advantage of the cooler weather to visit Milburn Orchards this weekend. In September and October they have Fall Festival Weekends with tons of activities for families, especially those with young children. It was not very crowded at all this weekend, but I've heard that the October weekends very busy. 

We had a great time! We made it through the Corn Maze in one piece...

W especially loved the hay ride.

And check out this turkey! Mmmmm thanksgiving!

Millburn also has U-Pick apples. Click here to see the U-pick apple schedule for this fall. I'm hoping that we will make it down to Lockbriar Farms in Chestertown for U-pick apples also!

And remember, if you are not local and are looking for a place to do U-pick apples this fall, check out PickYourOwn.org!

CSA Week 13

Last night for dinner we used several of the items that we picked up from the farm in the afternoon: peppers, squash, and lettuce. It's awesome knowing that the food we are eating was picked that very day! Everything tastes so much better fresh, doesn't it??

We got another watermelon this week, though they are much smaller now than when we first started them...a sign that summer is wrapping up! Also we got lettuce, the purple and orange peppers, summer squash, and potatoes. Yum!

We are just waiting on Hurricane Irene now. I'm planning to do a little baking this afternoon since the storm is not supposed to really hit here in Delaware until late afternoon or early evening. It's kind of fun knowing that we'll be hanging out at the house and not going anywhere today and tomorrow, but we're also trying not to take things too lightly. Thankfully our house is on quite a hill by Middletown standards, so we should be safe from any flooding. Stay safe this weekend if you are in the path of Irene also!

CSA Week 11

We are loving the melons from Colchester Farm! They are some of the best melons that I've ever tasted. We picked up another watermelon and another cantaloupe, along with heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, and a beautiful lettuce mix.

We have been getting a ton of rain this weekend! It sounds like more is headed our way, so hopefully our yard won't end up like a swimming pool when its all said and done.

I'm looking forward to posting some fun new recipes this week. Stay dry!

CSA Week 10

Whew! I'm a little behind today. Here's a look at what we picked up at Colchester Farm on Friday for our week's CSA share:

A watermelon (pink inside this time!), a cantaloupe, corn, purple peppers, and carrots.

We have already enjoyed the cantaloupe, peppers, and carrots...delicious! Melons just taste like summer!

Homemade Salsa Verde

Lately we have had the option of picking tomatillos as part of our CSA share. Colchester Farm sent us this Salsa Verde recipe the first week that tomatillos were available to help with ideas for using them. I've made this Salsa Verde three times now, and we have finished it off quickly each time!

The first time I only used half a pound of tomatillos. These little guys have a paper-like skin that you peel off, and then they are sticky! The sticky comes off with a light washing, and then you are ready to cook them. (I've also read that you can make salsa without cooking the tomatillos, but I opted for cooking each time.)

The first time I boiled the tomatillos. Put them in a pot of water and bring the water to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover for 5 minutes. Then remove from the water with a slotted spoon.

Or you can roast the tomatillos. Slice in half and spread on a baking sheet covered in foil. Place under the broiler for 5-7 minutes...

...until they look like this!

While the tomatillos are cooking (either method), chop your onion and place in a food processor. Add the tomatillos, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeno peppers, and sugar and pulse until it looks like salsa!

Tomatillo Salsa Verde (via AllRecipes)
1 1/2 lb tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 teasp. sugar
2 jalapeno peppers
salt to taste

Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well.

Cook tomatillos either by boiling or roasting

Place tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, peppers, and sugar in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator.

CSA Week 9

I love how colorful our CSA items are this week! We got quite a haul....this is the "abundant" season for harvesting, so we are seeing our shares be larger and larger.

We picked out a watermelon (yellow flesh inside), tomatillos, heirloom tomatoes, a Jenny Lind melon (green flesh inside), purple bell peppers, along with some hot pepper and green beans for our bonus items.

These heirloom tomatoes are so beautiful! We have four or five different varieties. And I am so excited to try the purple bell peppers. A great trip to the farm!

CSA Weeks 7 & 8

This is a look at most of what we got at our CSA for last week and this week. We took a bunch of tomatoes with us and used them during the week. Pictured here are sweet corn, onions, eggplant, loose lettuce mix, garlic, tomatillos, squash, and cucumbers.

I'm really excited to try my hand at making salsa with the tomatillos! And we are a little nervous about the eggplant. We'll see how it goes this week! I'm so thankful for the chance to build our meals around all this wonderful fresh produce.

CSA Week 6

The harvest is changing! This week at our CSA we picked up several different items...you can tell its really summer as many of the early harvest foods are no longer available. We went with lettuce again this week. This loose leaf mixture is delicious and beautiful. We got to the farm early yesterday, so we had a nice variety of foods, including heirloom tomatoes! We also got carrots, royal burgundy beans, and cucumbers. The beans we also had last week - they are really cool! A purple color on the outside and yet green on the inside. They also turn green when you cook them!

I'm looking forward to enjoying these things this week!

CSA Week 4

This week's CSA veggies included broccoli, summer squash, scallions, sugar snap peas (we cannot get enough of these!) and bok choy.

We have never tried bok choy before, but I am looking forward to the challenge! I'm thinking stir fry for now, but if you have any other favorite ways to serve bok choy, I am open for suggestions!

We've really enjoyed getting to be part of the Colchester CSA this year. Joining a CSA is something that we talked about off and on for several years, but it never worked out. This year has been great...despite the 30 minute drive to the farm, its been a great educational experience for our daughter, and for $13 a week we really have gotten a great deal.

Happy Saturday! We are excited to use our $9 movie tickets from the Living Social deal to go see Cars 2 with our daughter today!

CSA Week 3

This week we opted to pick up our CSA items in downtown Middletown. This is an option that is available every week, and would save us a ton of time, but we really wanted to get the full experience of going to the farm every week. Since things were so busy this week, it was nice to have the option to keep it simple yesterday evening. The other downside with the Middletown pick up is that we did not get to pick out our own items. That will be ok once in a while, but its nicer to be able to pick what we like best or need more of on a regular basis.

This week's pick-up included radishes, loose leaf lettuce, kohlrabi, garlic scapes, and sugar snap peas. I'm going to have to be on my toes to get the kohlrabi used up since we still have some from last week...I don't want it ending up in my food waste picture this coming Friday!

CSA Week 2

Here's a look at our CSA goodies this week!

A loose lettuce mix, broccoli, kohlrabi, snow peas and sugar snap peas, cilantro, and garlic.

Our backyard lettuce is on its last leg, so we are so glad to have beautiful CSA lettuce again this week! We got two kinds of peas again this week because we enjoyed them so much this past week. I tried growing peas in our garden last year and it was a bust. Broccoli was a nice surprise this week, and we decided to try another new veggie! Last week it was garlic scapes (which are my new favorite thing to cook with) and this week its the kohlrabi. We'll see how it goes...we are in for an adventure!

Community Supported Agriculture

This year we made the decision to buy a share in Colchester Farm's Community Supported Agriculture program! Have you heard of Community Supported Agriculture? From Colchester Farm's website:

Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a mutually beneficial partnership between local farmers and community members. In advance of the season, members buy a share of the upcoming harvest providing the farmer with the funds needed to cover the costs of operation. In return for their investment, members receive a weekly share of freshly harvested produce. In this commitment, CSA members share with the farmer both the bounty and the risks involved with farming.

This is something that I had looked into for several years, and just never felt ready to take the plunge. Yesterday was our first pick-up for the season, and I am SO glad that we joined! We have a small share, which is 5 units every week. A unit is a predetermined size for each type of produce, similar to sizes you buy in a grocery store (a head of lettuce, 8 oz of peas, etc). Our share cost $345 for 26 weeks, which works out to just over $13 a week. Considering that the produce we are getting is pesticide-free, that is an awesome deal!

Colchester Farm is about 30 minutes away from our home in Middletown, and yesterday was my first time to the farm. Colchester offered a pick-up in Middletown, but we would not be able to pick out the specific items of our share. By going to the farm I feel like we are really getting the whole "experience" of being part of a CSA...getting to know the people who run the farm and pick the food each week, as well as the other participants. Also, we are using this as a learning experience for our 2-year-old daughter (and really our son too, even though he is too young to understand). Our daughter was so excited to go to the farm! We talked about it all day, and she helped me to weigh out our different items at the pick-up. She can't wait to go back next week!
Here is what we got this week (isn't that a ton of food??):

(Clockwise from top) We got a head of lettuce, spinach, sweet potatoes, oregano and spearmint, snow peas, sugar snap peas, and garlic scapes. I was a total wuss and got pretty much all familiar foods this week. I could have gotten kohlrabi but I chickened out. I think I will get some next week if it is available again!

We are so excited for the rest of the CSA season! I will be doing an update on our share from the farm every week. Happy Saturday!