Since we’re on the topic of all things spring related now is a really good time to remind everyone of our CSA shares just starting. Most of us know what CSA shares are, but for everyone new to the idea it is a semi-urban trend to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to everyone that doesn’t have the time and space to grow their own gardens but want healthy, organic or naturally-grown fruits and vegetables from fresh, reliable sources instead of supermarkets where the growing method can’t always be trusted.

What farmers and fruit growers do is create baskets every week of their freshest, ripest produce on hand that either get delivered to a farmers market for a pick-up point, or have customers come pick them up. The point is to get it to the customers as quickly as possible so you may still be able to taste the sunlight in them the way they’re absolutely best.

Our shares at Kauffman’s each week usually include 5-8 fresh fruits or vegetables of the food in season (such as strawberries or asparagus, peaches, apples etc) and then whatever else we think you would love such as jams and jellies, or store products that we love.

Our website has pages of full, half and sample shares to tickle your taste buds once a week, once every other week, or once a month on any of the four months of your choice, but since we don’t really go into detail there we wanted to give you a better idea of what a sample box looks like.

Box of Fresh Goodness

Starting with the fruits and vegetables, a typical box at this kind of year is full of strawberries, asparagus, lettuce, and other spring greens. Depending on the length of the harvest you may see certain items for a few weeks to a few months as different varieties ripen and get ready, and the items are going to do a sort of musical chairs as some fade out and are replace by others. (It could also be named “upset the fruit basket”

It will vary some from week to week and so on as we start with early spring, moving to late spring/early summer, and the full bloom of summer to harvest time. In June the shares will include cherries, for example, or peaches in July. This bag gets a lot of fun produce.

Why I Should Buy CSA

There are two really good reasons to buy into a CSA Shares program. There are more than those, of course, but those all usually play into these two.

It’s fresh. This one is pretty simple. Food that is carted in over hundreds of miles in trucks can’t be quite as fresh as the food that is picked by the farmer and delivered or picked up that afternoon. Food transported over a long ways for days and weeks doesn’t stand a chance against the food that was still growing a few hours ago. It’s fresh, and it tastes amazing.

You know who grew it. For people who are conscious of the amounts of pesticides, hormones and preservatives used on their food sources it is interesting to note that the label natural, or even organic is not always completely trustworthy. When food is being mass produced by large corporations and farms most people don’t have the luxury of knowing how their food is grown, which is why the focus has swung back around to communities and local sharing. You may actually have a chance to have a conversation with the farmer. Looking at it from this perspective eating locally is a great way to eat clean, eat affordable, eat delicious and build community.

• you get to know your community
• you know who grows your fruits and vegetables and can ask about methods, or even go visit the farm.
• it supports the local economy
• everything is fresher (have we mentioned this one yet?)
• promotes variety in eating

Now is the Time

Now is the best time to buy-in, because the growing season is just starting and you can get everything from now to fall in a range of sweet and fresh. We took a current selection and created some dishes that we love from spring produce, and have included a recipe that our mother’s used to make; Spring Salad. This has an amazing fresh, light and slightly sweet flavor and is the type of thing you wish you could keep eating forever. Come to think of it, spring feels that way in general.

Sweet Springtime Salad

1. Take a selection of early produce such as radishes, green onions and lettuce and slice, chop or tear into smaller pieces.

2. Top the lettuce with the radishes and onions

3. Top the salad with this sweet cream dressing

Ingredients:

1 T white vinegar

1/2 c heavy cream

2 T white sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp poppy seeds (optional)

Mix dressing together and let sit a few minutes to thicken.

Pour over salad when ready to serve.

Mix together cream, sweeten to taste. Put in a shake of salt, and about 1 Tbsp of vinegar per half cup of cream. Let it sit a few minutes to thicken before pouring over salad. (cream is unwhipped)

If you like the taste of mayonnaise or salad dressing some people also vary the above recipe subbing the mayo or dressing for the cream.

Mmmmm