Vegetable Nerds

Today was a very monumental day for the Team Squeen household. We received our first CSA share!

For those who don't know, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, you pay a local farmer upfront in the beginning of the season, and you receive a box of produce every week during the summer and fall. It's great because you are supporting a small farm, you get everything in season and it's locally grown and organic so it's better for the environment. The catch is that you have no choice in what vegetables you receive, so you're stuck with whatever they happen to give you.


Like these guys. These are called garlic scapes. I have never seen such a thing in my life! This week, we also received lettuce, kale, bok choy, beets, radishes and spring onions.

We're doing the CSA through Dan's work, and we have been waiting for WEEKS for the produce to come. It feels like we have been talking about it every day for the last two months. The weather has been a little funky on the East Coast, so the start date kept getting delayed because the crop wasn't so great.

But then yesterday, Dan and I were giddy with excitement, knowing that the start day was here. That's right, we were excited about VEGETABLES. That's when I decided to call us Vegetable Nerds. I mean, seriously.

Dan has basically become a vegetarian in the last week and a half (he will only eat fish). While I won't go that far, I can't wait to try new vegetables and improve my cooking skills. I am very good at following recipes and then buying the ingredients, but now I have to learn how to cook with what I have. I will be documenting my cooking adventures here on The Ham, if you are interested.

Oh, we will also be getting fruit starting in July. YUM.

Apparently, the New York City Council has a bunch of vegetable nerds, too. They started a Facebook Fan Page for the CSA and posted pictures of what they are calling Vegetable Palooza, which is basically city council employees selecting their produce for the week.


Here's Dan elbowing his way to get the best stuff and stealing the last bok choy from the chick in pink. You go!

The stuff is currently overflowing in my fridge, and I have no idea what I will do with any of it yet. Wish us luck!