CSAs...

[mdt]

I know this has been discussed somewhere before, but I could not find a thread. Anyway, I was thinking of signing up for a CSA this year. Overall I remember that folks have been please with the service and was wondering if anyone has any specific information about Great Country Farms in Bluemont, VA.

[CoreyKeith]

I split a full share of the Great Country Farms CSA two years ago and was generally pleased. The primary motivation for Great Country was home delivery to the Reston area which made it very convient. The weather that year wasn't the greatest for the farm so the bounty was not overflowing but we were pleased with the produce we received. We particularly enjoyed going out the to farm for u-pick which members have a free weekly allocation.

Their website covers the program pretty well.

[abramer]

My husband and I split shares with another couple for two years. While we enjoyed the service, we found that we were overwhelmed with the amount of produce, and ended up not using too much of what we got. If I were more organized and had more room, I probably would have frozen and/or canned a lot of what we received.

The two years we participated also had less-than-stellar weather. The first year had a mild draught, and the second year they had flooded or nearly-flooded fields. While we did receive a LOT of produce, we found that we kept getting the same things in our bins, sometimes they were things we don't use a lot. As a member of the farm, you take a similar, though obviously much smaller, gamble to what the farmer does. You just don't know what will grow well each year.

We did go out to the farm a few times for u-pick, especially for berries, asparagus and later in the year, pumpkins. They generally don't put the more perishable (squashable) produce into the bins that go out. They do supply smaller pumpkins in the bins, but to get the big ones you have to go to them. Being able to pick what we wanted, within the designated limits, was a great benefit but we didn't get out there very much.

I loved coming home once a week to find out what was on our doorstep. It was like opening up a weekly present. I miss that.

The people who own Great Country Farms are very enthusiastic about what they do, and are very friendly. I would highly recommend them for a family that goes through a lot of produce. For us, the farmers market works better.

If you join, make sure you don't miss u-pick asparagus. There's nothing like eating it the day it was picked!

[DTBarton]

I bought a share in the Claggett farm in Upper Marlboro two years ago, had the same problem as far as torrential rain impacting the crops.

Found the harvests to be somewhat repetitious, lots of salad greens and cooking greens in varying quantities. Also small portions of things, like one carrot. Again, all this could have been climate related. Chose not to do it again as it's quite a drive to pick up, no delivery to my area. The do deliver to Dupont Circle.

Best stuff was pick it yourself tomatoes and broccoli, they open the fields at the end of the harvest. Got a bunch of nice stuff to share with neighbors. Also nice cutting flowers for members to pick.

http://www.clagettfarm.org/

[DTBarton]

I bought a share in the Claggett farm in Upper Marlboro two years ago, had the same problem as far as torrential rain impacting the crops.

Found the harvests to be somewhat repetitious, lots of salad greens and cooking greens in varying quantities.  Also small portions of things, like one carrot.  Again, all this could have been climate related.  Chose not to do it again as it's quite a drive to pick up, no delivery to my area.  The do deliver to Dupont Circle.

Best stuff was pick it yourself tomatoes and broccoli, they open the fields at the end of the harvest.  Got a bunch of nice stuff to share with neighbors.  Also nice cutting flowers for members to pick.

http://www.clagettfarm.org/

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And another nice thing, they work with the food bank, so it's also a charitable contribution in a way.

[Poffertjes]

reviving an old thread....

Is it too late for the local CSA's?

Does anyone know which ones have a pick up in the dupont area?

thanks

[Busboy]

Tree and Leaf Farms -- profiled in this thread (scroll down) -- has a CSA with shareholders in Mt. Pleasant (which means you can get your goodies on Saturday). I like their produce quite a bit. There's a link to their website at the top of the piece and you can contact them for more info.

[Poffertjes]

Unfortunatly, Tree & Leaf has sold all their CSA shares for the year.

Thanks for the quick reply!

[Robin Shuster]

Try Waterpenny and Potomac Vegetable Farms. They have very good quality veg and they also sell at Takoma Park on Sundays so you can talk to Rachel or Hiu there. They may also know of any newer farmers who have open shares.

40-987-8567

waterpenny@freewwweb.com

Also:

Potomac Vegetable Farms

Hiu Newcomb

9627 Leesburg Pike

Vienna, VA 22182

Finally, try these http://www.vabf.org/csa.php

Robin

I know this has been discussed somewhere before, but I could not find a thread.  Anyway, I was thinking of signing up for a CSA this year.  Overall I remember that folks have been please with the service and was wondering if anyone has any specific information about Great Country Farms in Bluemont, VA.

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[Faboo]

We got our first delivery from Great Country Farms last Thursday and finished it last night, in time for tonite's delivery. Last week's box contained spinach, kale, spring onions, asparagus & a little pot of dill.

Unpacked:

Washed:

The first night we had Padma Lakshmi's Chick-Peas and Spinach Tapas on pita bread:

The second night we had Epicurious' Kale & White Bean Ragout on baked potatoes. Sorry for bad pic:

Saturday we had Epicurious' Creamy Dill Eggs w/Rachael Ray's Green Onion Hash Browns & some Boca Veggie sausages:

Then Sunday things took a turn for the culinary worse, starting w/a bagel & cream cheese from Dunkin' Donuts and spiraling downward from there. No more pics were taken, however, I did use up the rest of the kale in a Portugese Kale & Potato soup and the asparagus in some quesadillas.

Oh yeah, long time lurker, first time poster!

[Busboy]

Great first post and welcome, faboo!

And a belated welcome to pofferjes.

Given your interests in CSAs you may both be interested on reading, and posting on this thread on seasonal cooking.

Robin Shuster, btw, runs the Mt. Pleasant market and is a great source of knowledge not only on "her" farmers but what's generally going amongst our area's farmers and markets in general.

[Faboo]

Thank you, Busboy! I didn't know where to post it, the Cooking/Dinner! thread or General Topics/Weight Watchers/CSA's etc. Finally decided to just play it safe and stay local for the time being.

[Faboo]

Our second weeks order from Great Country Farms had some gorgeous strawberries along w/collard greens, baby spinach, spring onions, asparagus and a little pot of cilantro. By Saturday night, we'd eaten the whole half share.

Thursday night we ate the collards. Cooked them down w/some veggie broth, onions, garlic, ginger and jalapeno. Spooned into pita bread. Tasted like spinach and very healthy.

Had the strawberries for breakfast on Friday and gave the cilantro to a coworker.

Friday night I mashed two potatoes w/some of the spinach and a little gruyere.

Made asparagus omlettes w/boca sausages. Unfortunately, the asparagus was

pretty hard, having just been blanched. Would've been better had it cooked a

few minutes longer.

By Saturday night, the spinach was fading fast and I did not know what to do

with it. So I mixed it w/some eggs, the spring onions & meunster cheese

alongside roasted potatoes and boca sausages. It may not look it, but

this was really delicious.

I hope to have more inspired recipes this week.

[Faboo]

Even though Thursday's box arrived after a t'storm in 90 degree weather, the asparagus, lettuce, spring onions, strawberries and pot of parsley were all in great shape. Unfortunately, my camera was all steamed up.

I was prepared for the arrival and made Epicurious' Asparagus Tart that evening:

The next evening the green leaf lettuce became a big salad w/lots of stuff in it. (Got the "stuff" off Balducci's salad bar, so perhaps that explains why it's so photogenic)

Saturday, half the spring onions went into Giada De Laurentiis' Spaghettini with Checca Sauce. I highly recommend this recipe. It's an excellent summertime dish and very easy/quick to make:

Sunday I tried to use up some of the lettuce on Boca Burgers w/Roasted Potatoes.

I still have some spring onions and lettuce to use up. Not to mention the rest of the two quarts of strawberries I picked on Sunday. Not just any strawberries, the most delicious strawberries I've ever had in my life. Pictures or words could not do them justice.

[redglass]

Gee, I feel like my share is so tiny in comparison, but I'm a CSA virgin and am so excited about my first pick up today so I had to post...

I went with Potomac Veg. Farms b/c they had a pick up location in Arlington, they offered a share the right size for me (a "mini" share- for singles or small households), and the price was right.

First bag today had some gorgeous radishes like I've never seen- almost like fingerling potatoes- a small bunch of tatsoi, a head of green leaf lettuce, over 2 cups of fresh basil, some garlic curls, and some great looking sugar snap peas.

We're going out of town this weekend, so I've already made some pesto with the basil and garlic curls and used it as a base for homemade pizzas tonight.

[captainjaroslav]

I'm glad somebody else is documenting their CSA share. I thought about doing that, but then realized that I'm too much of a slacker. I've thought about joining a CSA for years but this is my first time actually doing it. I bought it before my wife found out she landed a summer job in Maui, too, which might have changed my mind, I may have to temporarily convert to vegetarianism just to keep up!

I joined Clagett farm, but I was hoping to find several people in my area who were willing to share pick-up duties so I would not have to go out every week. I found one person, which is not as many as I would have hoped, but it's a start. It's nice to go out to the farm every once and a while, to see where the food comes from and to take advantage of the you-pick items.

The shares have been pretty small so far, but that's okay for me, since I'm still transitioning to the idea of planning meals based around my share. I am, however, jealous of the asparagus, possilbly my favorite vegetable in the world. Either Clagett Farm doesn't grow it or it's not ready yet. (Probbably the former, it's a little late for asparagus, isn't it?)

In a fit of insanity, I've also planted a bunch of veggies in my yard, so it's going to be a good year for me to really learn to do some preserving. I made Kim Chee once before and Clagett seems like it will provide a ton of Napa cabbage, so I'll probably be doing that again.

It's a little late for signing up now, but if people are interested in finding CSAs, the USDA provides a database of them that you can search by your ZIP code here:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/csastate.htm

It seems to be down right now, though the page does contain links to other sources for finding CSAs.

[Faboo]

This is my first CSA experience as well. Sounds like Potomac Vegetable Farms & Clagett have more exotic stuff than Great Country Farms. I went and picked two more quarts of strawberries yesterday morning.

Then at 2:30ish my order was delivered. Collards, oak leaf lettuce, spring onions, strawberries, radishes and a little pot of basil. Lots of green stuff and I hadn't yet finished the lettuce & spring onions from the previous week.

I confess to feeling overwhelmed with all of it, like I'd better incorporate the delivery into dinner right away. But after reading Redglass' post, I had my heart set on making margherita pizza with which to sprinkle my basil on. I want to enjoy the CSA experience and not feel pressured. While planting my basil, one of my Barred Rocks let me know that she'd gladly help me eat the lettuce.

And my mother is gladly taking the radishes. (No pic)

Tonite I'll make veggie soup.

[captainjaroslav]

While planting my basil, one of my Barred Rocks let me know that she'd gladly help me eat the lettuce.

Looks like somebody else might gladly help you eat that chicken!

[Faboo]

We're all food lovers at my house

So anyway, I was able to incorporate the collards into a pot of Spicy Bean Soup (another Giada De Laurentiis recipe).

That lasted through the weekend and was really tasty. Highly recommend.

Yesterday, I washed the lettuce for a salad, it was still gorgeous!

And used up the green onions in some Sloppy Moes. They were a little too tomatoey for my liking.

Now I'm cleaned out and ready for tomorrow's delivery!

[chuchelo]

We did Bull Run Farm CSA for a couple of years but it didn't work out for us. I'm glad someone else it enjoying theirs! Great pics!!

[Faboo]

I can definitely see where receiving a box of produce every week

wouldn't work for a lot of people. I'm fortunate in that Great Country

Farms sends out an email each Tuesday detailing what is in the weekly

delivery. Because I get my box on Thursday I have two days to

prepare for the arrival, unlike those getting their deliveries on Tuesday

or Wednesday. This week we got kale, a cabbage, radishes, onions & a

little pot of sage.

Immediately went to work on a Portugese Kale & Chick Pea Soup. I used Tofurky

Kielbasa instead of chorizo, so it was more a Polish soup than Portugese. Still

good though. Standing and cleaning kale after working all day is no fun. I got the

recipe from '30 Minute Meals' but it still took at least an hour and a half to prepare.

Fortunately, the leftovers last for several days. It's not bad having soup in the

summer if you have good A/C.

Because I was not visiting my mother this week, and cannot abide by food

wastage, I willed myself to try the radishes. I decided to try them the way

Busboy described in the Farm Markets thread. I started small and went on

to eat them all. They were good, I enjoyed them.

Ever since I saw the Two Fat Ladies make 'Bubble & Squeak' I've wanted to

try it. The cabbage was my opportunity. Unfortunately, the dish was very blah.

Didn't squeak. Thumbs down.

We picked a half pint of blueberries & a pint of peas. After shelling, there was

only a handful of peas and word back was every single blueberry was sour.

Lots of new experiences this week thanks to joining the CSA. I'd never

bought cabbage or radishes. Never picked or shelled peas. Some critter

keeps unplanting the sage from my herb garden every day, but the sage

is still thriving. I'm all ready for this weeks delivery....

[Faboo]

Last Thursday's delivery was a huge bunch of romaine, another huge bunch of collards, three heads of broccoli, spring onions and two basil plants.

I know this is unimaginative, but in order to use up the collards, broccoli and spring onions, I made.....more soup.

I also made Caesar Salad. The croutons were quite overpowering. I sure miss Balducci's Caesar Salad.

On Sunday we went to pick blueberries, broccoli, lettuce and collards/kale. Unfortunately, 120 CSA members had descended on the farm the day before and there were no more blueberries or broccoli to be had. We picked more collards/kale and lettuce. I am ashamed to say I made another pot of soup. However, I am proud to say I am getting so good at making soup, I no longer need to look at a recipe.

There is no delivery during this short holiday week, which is good cuz we

still have romaine and the other lettuce we picked. I do hope that next week

I can think of something else to do w/my delivery other than make soup

or mix it w/eggs.

[redglass]

This week (a mini share from Potomac Vegetable Farms) I got a small head of lettuce, a big bunch of Italian basil, some sorrel, a cucumber, two small zucchinis, a squash, and...some beets with their greens.

Faboo, no shame in making soup. I just made the carrot/ginger/sorrel soup from recipe gullet (review: yum!) to use my sorrel from this week, and last week I made chilled zucchini soup with my zucchini.

I've also been making alot of pesto- both the traditional with basil and one with dill that I'm hoping to use with some wild salmon when I get around to getting some.

I confess to never having tried fresh beets and have only bad memories of trying canned beets as a kid. I'm going to try this roasted beet salad recipe from epicurious and see how it goes.

[chuchelo]

I spent much of May and June in France and once was served a salad of diced (very small) raw beets, fresh corn, olives, and tomatoes in a light dressing. I'm not a beet fan at all but I've been taught to eat what is set before one and I'm glad I did. It was delicious!

[Faboo]

When I was around seven years old, a jar of Aunt Nelly's pickled beets hurled itself off the shelf and onto my big toe. The jar didn't break, but my toe was black & blue for well over a month. Anyway, before signing up for the CSA, the three items I was most concerned about wasting were the radishes, beets and eggplant. So far I've done well by the radishes (actually enjoyed them!). When the beets come, I'm planning to make Epicurious' Roasted Beets w/Horseradish Cream. The eggplant will go straight to my mother.

Redglass, thanks for your reassurance about making so much soup. I do feel better now knowing I'm not alone on the soup front. Your "mini" share sounds very big and your season is at least a week ahead of mine since I haven't gotten any squash/zucchini yet. Great Country Farms must be in a different climate zone than Potomac Vegetable Farms. Did the Roasted Beet Salad w/Gorgonzola Sauce alter your mind about beets?

Chuchelo, what a wonderful meal/memory! If I were served beets in France, I'd eat them too. If any pics of the salad exist, I'd love to see them.