CSA

Last night we had our first CSA pickup. We have a half share at Greensgrow. We did it last year and liked it, but didn't know what to do with a lot of the stuff we got - especially this time of year. But now we are determined to use as much as we can. Yesterday we picked up: a bunch of beets, chives (which we are also growing), strawberries, baby spinach, swiss cheese & a dozen eggs - for our dairy option (which can be-1/2 a gallon of milk, 2 yogurts, 1 dozen eggs or a pound of butter. Then, because we are vegetarians we get a little extra: asparagus, scallions, and bunch of turnips.The meat eaters get ground pork. I think it's a pretty good idea. Oh, collards were included, but we didn't take them because we knew they'd go to waste. There is usually a box where you can trade items you don't want or like but it wasn't out yesterday, so we just gave them up.

So, we have to get crackin' on Sunday - we have my sister's wedding on Saturday & Friday is the rehersal, so no cooking those days! My sister will be another contributer to this site once she gets back from her honeymoon. On Sunday we are going to try and make beet and/or turnip chips. We will let you know how that turns out. I am pretty excited. Last year we gave our beets away to my cousin because we couldn't even think of what to do with them. Apparently, even though they love beets, they couldn't either - they forgot about them and had left them in their car. Oops!

Also, this Sunday starts the local eating challenge! We're ready!

check me out

I just figured out how to post to a blog. All by myself. This country girl is getting pretty technological. The only thing we have been using from the garden so far is herbs, but they have made nice flavoring additions to our out of season vegetable dishes. Our next purchase is going to have to be a deep freeze so that we will never have to eat food from far, far away again (and Kristin is going to have to start eating squash). We already have a canning weekend planned for August too.

Starting out

We are 3 girls trying to eat local and grow food in Philadelphia. All three of us are going to write about our experiences trying to grow vegetables in our container gardens and eat local by joining a CSA and hitting farmers market. We have signed up for One Local Summer where we are challenged to make one meal a week entirely from local foods (within 100 miles of Philadelphia).

Some of us are picky eaters, so this will be interesting. We are looking forward to the challenge. Wish us luck!