Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Veggie-tales

This Summer, Dustin and I signed up for a Community Supported Agriculture share (a CSA for those of you into abbrevs.) We put our little veggie toes in the water, and went with a half a small, which means that every other Wednesday, the good people of Kretschmann Organic Farm drop off a crate of fresh, locally grown produce, at a nearby house. We just have to swing by before nightfall, transfer the goodies to a bag, and we're on our way to healthy meals! Perfect! Right?

Well, in true Bowden fashion, we've managed to take a very easy process, and botch up repeatedly. Oh yes, our over-complicating skills know no bounds. So, as a warning to family farms everywhere, I present: The Official (non-exhaustive)
List of Reasons Not to Allow Courtney and Dustin To Participate in Your CSA Organization:
  1. We will send you approximately 18 emails before the season starts, with questions that are probably answered on the website, but we're new at this, and I was just wondering.....
  2. We will also inquire multiple times, at length about coordinating a group sign up and drop off at our gym. After countless discussions of how said project would work, we will advise you to "Nevermind." and abandon the idea completely due to lack of interest.
  3. After signing up for a location, we will promptly request to change it, shaking the delicate balance of the drop-off system.
  4. We will ask you in-depth questions about the beef, chicken, coffee, and eggs options. We will not want any of these options. We don't even drink coffee.
  5. On the first week of pick up. We will forget to pick ours up.
  6. We will then remember, around 11pm, and leave a 5 minute voicemail for the "host family" apologizing profusely, brainstorming ideas to fix the catastrophe, eventually offering our veggies up to a good home, and ending the message with, "I really hope this is that family that hosts the CSA, because maybe I didn't dial right, and if not....um...disregard."
  7. When we are permitted to pick up our veggies late, we will forget the rules, and take the box home.
  8. We will not learn this lesson, and will continue to take the box home for at least 3 more weeks.
  9. We will eventually remember that we are supposed to leave the box, but we will not have a bag to hold our produce instead, so we will take the box anyway.
  10. We will go on vacation, notify you too late, and waste a box of veggies.
  11. We will then ask you to deliver two weeks in a row as a make up.
  12. We will cheat on you at the farmer's market. With tomatoes.
So.....all that to say, there's a bit of learning curve (or a "stop being such jerks and learn to be part of the community" curve) to this whole CSA thing. But logistical challenges aside, the produce has been well worth it. Every other week we go on a veggie adventure where surprises and challenges abound.

I call this one: how many leafy green things exist that are actually edible?
(alternate title: "Mom, smell it....is that basil?")
And this one: Fried kale chips sound interesting....
(alternate title: gross.)

And who can forget: "Courtney, what's that smell?"
(alternate title: "Courtney, Don't put beets in a measuring cup, cover it with plastic wrap, microwave for 4 minutes, let rest for a minute, add another four minutes, walk away, ignore the crash noise and the smoke smell because you assumed it was the neighbors grilling out. There will be consequences.")

And the classic: Mystery Bloodstain
(alternate title: Beets Strike Back. This Time It's Personal.)


But seriously folks, we've actually loved having a CSA. We've tried foods we wouldn't have otherwise, our dinners are fresher and better for us, and I got to buy a brand new measuring cup. Win-win-win! Now who wants to come over for a nice beet-kale salad? Raw, of course....

2 comments :

  1. Don't worry- we forgot to pick it up yesterday. Oh the glaring IRONY.

    ReplyDelete