Green Options

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Spring finally exploded here, and my market haul took two trips to the car. For a mere $40.00 I came home with peaches, two bunches of asparagus, 2 lbs. of collard greens, 2 heads of lettuce, a huge head of Savoy cabbage, cilantro, amaranth leaves, spring onions, kohlrabi, strawberries and blueberries, 2 bulbs of garlic, and 2 lb. green beans. I don’t even want to guess what the same stuff grown “no spray” at the market would have cost me in the “organic” produce section of the store. Many of the farmers I know are not certified organic, but practice sustainable methods, so I look for people I trust, not USDA logos. I like it that way.

The two “experiments” in my haul are, of course, kohlrabi and amaranth. I heard more than one remark, “But what do you do with it?” over these items. I am determined to find out. For the kohlrabi, which is a combination word from German and German Swiss for “cabbage” and “turnip,” the mild radish-like flavor and crunch lends itself to a tangy kohlrabi slaw recipe.

For the rest of the carnival, entries from all of you include some great recipes and advice this week. Reader posts after the jump.

Welcome to this week’s Farmers Market Fare Posts! We gathering more posts in this second edition, and I hope that continues to grow as the Eat Local season really gets started for most of the country. Perhaps not so much for my neck of the woods where we had snow and cold. Then spring arrived the following afternoon. Just to mock me, or to cheer me up. Or both.

Given that this coming week is Earth Day, and April is poetry month, here are a few words from Kahlil Gibran’s poem, “Earth:”

“How beautiful you are, Earth, and how sublime!
How perfect is your obedience to the light,  and
how noble is your submission to the sun!

How soothing is the song of your dawn, and how
harsh are the praises of your eventide!
How perfect you are, Earth, and how majestic!”

Here are your blog posts for the week (after the jump).

© Dwight Smith | Dreamstime.com

Starting this week, we’ll be bringing something new to Eat. Drink. Better. — your recipe and blog links! I’m celebrating the opening of my local farmers markets this weekend by starting a recipe and local food post carnival that will run from now until November.

Each week, submit your post to farmerfare [at] gmail [dot] com. Submissions are due by 2 p.m. Sunday, EST. The post must be non-commercial and [...]

Think you have spring fever? Sandy Dietz walks into a tsunami of vernal anticipation every time she enters her Minnesota greenhouse, bonding with the thousands of seedlings that will eventually find a home outside in the fields. Raising over a hundred varieties of vegetables, Dietz and her family run Whitewater Gardens in northeast Minnesota, growing for area farmers’ markets and a sixty member CSA (community supported agriculture).

“Our first farmers’ market of the season is like an anticipated family reunion for me,” Dietz says with a smile. “To reconnect with the folks who regularly buy our produce every week and watch them act like kids in a candy store when they see our fresh kale for the first time this year confirms that farming is where my heart and passion lie. To contribute to the local food system by taking things from seed to community, that’s priceless to me.”

Dietz’s path to farming represents current trends in small-scale agriculture. While she grew up in a small town setting, she and her husband, Lonny, had no growing experience. After years in traditional office settings, the Dietz duo started their five-acre market garden in 1996. Like many new farmers in training, they met seasoned Obi Wan Kenobi mentors to help them get established. “The strong network of organic farmers helped us get started and keeps us connected today,” Dietz adds. Dietz also represents the changing face of women in agriculture, as increasing numbers of women (particularly those under 55) are purchasing new farms and operating organic and sustainably-managed farms.

So, it poured down sleet all day today. That infernal rodent, Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow and forecast a grim six more weeks of bone chilling temperatures and “record snow events.” Three more weeks to go, Phil. Thanks, Buddy. While contemplating cooking up a vat of groundhog confit is taking it a bit too far, suffice it to say, I have the Cabin Fever, baby. Bad.

What keeps this locavore’s heart warm in February, other than my child, six layers of clothes and fuzzy socks, is the knowledge that it is once again time to sign up for our CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is basically a mutual agreement between consumers and a farmer that helps guarantee the farmer a reliable income, and the consumers each get a share of the produce throughout the season.

A CSA is a real partnership; the consumers take on some of the risk of farming as a bad season can mean less produce. However, the support through the tough seasons allows the farm to continue, and it certainly pays off during the good seasons. Most seasons, a CSA subscription provides enough produce to feed a family of four. Many will offer shared, or half subscriptions for single people or small families. (Learn more about CSAs and how to find one after the jump).

Sadly, our little green pumpkin that was doing so well deflated and turned yellow.  "Where’s my pumpkin go?" my poor son asked.  The plant hasn’t stopped blooming, but I don’t know if I expect more pumpkins or not.  Our raspberries look like they’re doing okay despite the fact that little bugs attacked the leaves this year.  We got maybe an ear’s worth of popcorn.

These days it is easier to find things that have been produced from far away than to get things made or grown near us. When you buy local you’re actually saving energy: it takes less oil to transport something from 100 miles away than it does from around the world. Supporting local businesses also improves the economy in your area, which will inevitably create a more vibrant community.

CSA

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If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard a thousand times: Eat Your Vegetables! From the day we moved onto solid foods until we moved out of the house, we heard this culinary command at least three times a day. Yet at some point, we tuned it out.

A new study American Journal of Preventive Medicine confirms this: Americans are eating fewer vegetables than ever. Researchers evaluated data from two large national health surveys

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Photo Credit: I Heart Organic

Think about the last time you ate a piece of organic fruit. Do you know where it came from?

Born from the desire to support and connect with local organic farmers, Bay Area start-up I Heart Organic is currently distributing sweatshop-free, and 100% organic American Apparel t-shirts at green festivals around the Bay Area. With 10% of all net profits to education and local organic farms,

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