csa

We joined a CSA yesterday and picked up our first box of vegetables! It included a big bag of mixed salad, a bag of spinach, a small bunch of the cutest carrots I have ever seen, some beets, some radishes, and some oregano. I just love that even though we aren't going to get to plant our big garden this year that we will get some fresh vegetables every week. We went out to Terrapin Hill Farm for our pick up and to meet the owners of the farm and to see how the farm looks. Everything looked sustainable and well taken care of and the kids had a great time checking out the chicks in the brooder and running in the mud. (We took our three plus my niece and nephew that I watch 3 days a week. The van was packed. :) So, we got our veggies and now I am trying to figure out what to do with beets. I used to eat them as a child but I have no recollection as to how they were prepared. Anyone have a good beet recipe? This farm is actually just up the road from where we are moving to in Harrodsburg, which means that it will be nice to get to know some folks in the Burg of Harrod before we even get there. And hopefully even though they are a farm that we'll essentially be "competing" with in the coming years, their focus is not at all the same as ours with the exception of pastured poultry, and there is no way there are too many people raising pastured poultry. I feel good about supporting another local farm until our own local farm is up and running.

By the way, last Saturday we played Settlers with some friends and it was so much fun! We are going to have to make it a regular occurrence. They even brought us a gallon of raw milk to go with our brownies, which was gone the next day. Only a little longer until we get a cow. Then we'll have to learn to milk it. But, oh, the awesomeness of milk straight from our own cow... Seriously, buying milk is just the pits. We go through something like 5 gallons a week (sometimes more) but if we have our own cow and we get something like 4 gallons a day (being hopeful here) then we can just drink milk until the cow runs dry. And make butter, and then we'll have buttermilk, and make all kinds of cheeses, and yogurts, and whatever else strikes our dairy fancy. I hope we have enough to at least share with my dad who would absolutely love the fresh milk. We went over to my parent's house last night for supper and had a good time. I got to see Dad's vegetable garden which is looking good, and all his flowers too. He just got 4 new dwarf apple trees and a pear tree which has gotten me thinking about my own orchard. SOON we have to plant an orchard. A HUGE orchard with all kinds of apples and pears and cherries and peaches... and we have to do berries! of all kinds! I could go on and on and on...

There is much more to say about the farm, my kids, the camper situation, the new house design but for now 2 posts in one day is enough.