Farm Share: Week 3

After a GREAT winter season with our Greensgrow Farms Farm Share we decided to go with Landisdale Farm for the summer and fall.  It's closer, a little cheaper, and allows for pick-up every week for a small share.  So far we're pleased with the hauls we've been getting, although I'm looking forward to some more variety in the coming weeks.  The first 3 boxes were nearly identical, so here's the scoop:

• Green Cabbage
• Lettuce
• Swiss Chard
• Garlic Scapes (those green curly things)
• Onions
• Summer Squash
• Zucchini
• Blueberries

Pretty yummy stuff--the berries are great in my yogurt in the morning and I've been using the garlic scapes in almost any sauteed meal we've made.  They have a very light, warm garlic flavor that is also slightly sweet.  Perfect for adding just a bit of garlic.  (Although I could probably eat a whole clove like an apple I love garlic so much...)

I'll be sure to let you know what we get tomorrow!

This weekend we have a trip to the Farmer's Market at Clark Park to pick up our Farm Share
Happy Hour at Biba--omg the shirred egg is something I dream about!  Looking forward to the sangria!
A friend's birthday party Saturday night at R2L--first time there so I will be sure to post a review
Sean's mom visiting Sunday night which means a great dinner out, hopefully somewhere new!

What do you all have planned?

Living Green-ish in the City:CSA Week 8

This was a great week for the farmshare!  I promise to post recipes later this week.  Stuffed mushrooms, yes please!  And my beloved pea shoots are back.  I will be putting these into pretty much everything.  I wilt them into quinoa or rice, throw them into an omelet, or add them to salads.  Yumtastic for sure!

Produce 

Pea Shoots - Gehman Family, Lansdale, PA

White Button Mushrooms - Bo-Ka Specialties, Kennett Square, PA

Organic Multicolored Carrots - Sunny Ridge Farm, Spring Run, PA

Organic Russet Potatoes - Countryside Organics, Lancaster County, PA

Pepper Jelly - Greensgrow Farms, Philadelphia, PA

 

Cheese 

Hunstman - Cherry Grove Farm, Lawrenceville,  NJ

 

Dairy 

Milk - Trickling Springs Creamery,  Chambersburg, PA 

Amish Butter - Hometown Provisions, Lancaster,  PA

 

Meat shares 

Grass-Fed Beef Cubes - Natural Meadows Farm, Mount Pleasant Mills, PA

Anyone have any recipes using Pepper Jelly?  I'm really at a loss of how to use it...thoughts are welcome!

Living Green-ish in the City:CSA Week 7

Yes! Those are flowers...spring is almost here!

This weekend was great!  So many awesome posts coming up...but as always on a Monday after a farm share Saturday, you get to see the haul. 

ProduceSwiss Chard- Greensgrow Farms, Philadelphia, PA
Portabella Mushrooms - Bo-Ka Specialties, Kennett Square, PA
Red Onions - Landisdale Farm, Jonestown, PA
Brioche Rolls - D'Ambrosio Bakery, Philadelphia, PA
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam - Greensgrow Farms, Philadelphia, PA

CheeseOregano Cheddar- Goot Essa Cheese, Howard, PA

DairyYogurt - Pequea Valley Farm, Ronks, PA
Eggs - Sandy Ridge Farm, Elizabethtown, PA
         
Meat sharesGrass-Fed Ground Beef - Natural Meadows Farm, Mount Pleasant Mills, PA

I also picked up some Kale--I'm thinking of making a green smoothie with it--anyone ever tried one? 

I also picked up some seeds for planting--we'll see how that goes.

Check out what I made for lunch immediately after coming home with all the goodies:

I sauteed the mushroom just slightly in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, then slapped it on one of those fluffy, buttery, brioche buns, fried up an egg, shredded some of that Oregano Cheddar (holydeliciousnessbatman!) and it was one heck of a sammy. 

Happy Weekend!

Happy Weekend, everyone!  My weekend started early since I took my comp day today.  I'm currently blogging in my pj's with the furball curled up in my lap.  I love lazy days!

This weekend Sean is heading to his parents home in New Hampshire.  He will be spending some time with his mom before her knee replacement surgery on Tuesday (ouch!) So, I am a single lady for a few days!  As exciting as it is to have freedom to take up the whole bed and watch bad reality tv...I definitely hate when the hubs isn't around.  We were long distance for a year before we got engaged and that pretty much sucked, so when we're apart now I still get all mopey and whiny.

But--I have some fun things going on to keep me distracted:

This afternoon I am heading into the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia to check out the brand new Jonathan Adler store...someday when I'm rich and famous he will come and decorate my house with all of the absurd animal sculptures in his collection....and it will be GLORIOUS!

Farm share pickup tomorrow! Hooray! 

A seed starting workshop at Greensgrow is in the plans as well. I think I might attempt to grow lettuce in a container on our little patio this spring--apparently this works--we'll see.

And I'm most excited to see my friend who recently found out she is PREGGO!!  I'm so excited for her and her husband, and she's already promised that I can squeeze the baby.  I'm also already planning on buying this for the peanut.  Um...prepare for cuteness overload:

This makes me even more excited to start my knitting class this Sunday!  Although, LylaKayt's hats are telling me I need to learn to crochet--anyone want to teach me??  I will trade for homemade meatballs and lovely conversation!

So I think that my weekend will be jam packed and lots of fun.  Recap to come next week!

Also---stay tuned because next week I will be hosting my VERY FIRST GIVEAWAY!!  This one is as good as cash money!  If you haven't already become a follower you should get on that since it may or may not increase your chances....just sayin'.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Living Green-ish in the City: CSA Week 6

One of the best things about growing up in Chicago is the diversity of cultures and of course with that comes a range of yummy foods!  Chicago has a HUGE Polish population and so I grew up loving pierogies.  If you've never had one go and get one immediately!  The frozen kind are an ok substitute, but nothing can beat homemade.  So I was super psyched to have pierogies from Polish Goodness in our Greensgrow farm share this week--definitely a taste of home!  Pierogies and Saurkraut are definitely on the menu for lunch this weekend and it will be yumtastic for sure.  Check out all the other goodies we got in the share:

No snow today!

Produce

CSA Week 6 Haul

Butterhead Lettuce — ARC Greenhouses, Shiloh, NJ

Mutsu or Ida Red Apples — Beechwood Orchards, Biglerville, PA

Chioggia or Red Beets — Jacob Hostetler and Breezy Hill Farm, Doylesburg, PA

Sauerkraut — Cobblestone Krautery, Philadelphia, PA

Cheese

Muenster — Hometown Provisions, Lancaster, PA

Dairy

Milk — Trickling Springs Creamery, Chambersburg, PA

Amish Butter — Hometown Provisions, Lancaster, PA

Meat AND Vegetarian shares

Potato Pierogies — Polish Goodness Pierogies, Philadelphia, PA

We didn't pick up any extras this week, but just look at how pretty all the produce looks! 



Giant Carrots



Crimini Mushrooms



Greens



Oyster Mushrooms



Rainbow Carrots

Nothing beats veggies straight from the ground. 

So, with the beets in our share, I will attempt to cook one for the first time. This will definitely be a disaster awesome.  Any advice or recipes would be appreciated!

Stay tuned for my next post--Sean and I are going to The Institute's Pork &Yards event: Whole pigs on a spit and lots of beer...we are so there.

Breakfast for Dinner or..How much I love my farm share!

When Sean is at class and I don't feel like cooking a full on meal for myself, breakfast for dinner is my go-to.  We had some bacon in the fridge and the rest of the ingredients (minus the bread) were from our farm share at Greensgrow.  I fried up the bacon first and NO I did not eat all of it--Sean has some for his breakfast in the morning or a snack when he comes in from class tonight.

are you drooling yet??

I poured the excess grease into our grease jar...did everyone's mom do this growing up or was it just mine? HI MOM!  I left enough in the pan, though, to fry up an egg.  I love me some drippy eggs let me tell you.  And I have finally mastered the egg flip that keeps the yolk intact.  The eggs from Greensgrow are amazing.  You really can taste the difference between fresh eggs and store bought.  I may never eat a store bought egg again.

thank you free range chickens!

I made two pieces of toast and buttered one up for dipping while I slathered the other with goat cheese that I still had from last week's farm share haul.  Goat cheese has that tang that tastes amazing with the buttery egg.mmmmmmmmmm.  I also used some arugula from our produce this week that added a peppery crunch to my open faced sandwich.  Since I'm a cheese-aholic I sprinkled parmesean and the Vampire Slayer cheese on top.  The Vampire Slayer is a garlicky, spicy, soft cheese that's very distinct and very delicious.  I used it in a grilled cheese the other day and it added just the right amount of kick.

Sophie Conran Butter dish and fancy glass make it a meal!

See...YUMTASTIC!  And afterwards I ate something that really has no business being in the same meal with all these fresh, organic, farm-grown goodies: a TOASTER STRUDEL!  (The amazing competition to Pop-Tarts that, much like Hot Pockets can only be served still frozen in the middle or boiling lava hot.  Thanks Jim Gaffigan). Now those things are seriously amazing and I ate them for breakfast the entire time I was in middle school.  Not sure what my mom was thinking---FROSTING for breakfast???  Although I thank her for introducing me to the wonder that is a Toaster Strudel I'm pretty sure it didn't help me keep my girlish figure during my awkward years.

Living Green(ish) in the City

Hello Friends!



So, one of my favorite things about living in Philly is how crunchy it really is here.  Crunchy like granola eating, reusable tote using, only buying used materials, growing their own produce on their stoop,recycling like crazy folks who just love their Mother Earth.  Now, I am definitely not at that point yet but I have discovered a love of quinoa, and I recently found myself scoffing at the person in front of me at the grocery store using plastic bags.  One of the best ways I've found to live a little greener is opting into a CSA or Community Supported Agriculture program.  Basically, you buy a share of a local farm's products for the season and every week or two you get a big box of goodies grown on the farm.  I've found that although the upfront fee is a little hard to swallow, it breaks down to about $20/week which is what we'd spend on produce anyway and holydeliciousness! is the stuff better than anything you'd buy at the Stop'n Shop!  This winter Sean and I found Greensgrow Farm in the North Philly/Fishtown area. 

It's really an incredible place with little greenhouses smattering an otherwise vacant plot of land.  In the spring and summer they even have chickens out and about!  In the winter they give produce and other treats from their own greenhouses as well as local PA and NJ farms.  Just look at the beautiful veggies even with all this snow.



bags and bags of arugula











Jerusalem Artichokes









spaghetti squash

 



dumpling squash

This week in our farm share we got lots of goodies and fresh produce:

Produce

Baby Arugula - Graiff Farms, Newfield, NJ

Asian Pears - Evergreen Farm, Hamilton Township, NJ
Sweet Potatoes - Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ
Apple Preserves - Greensgrow Farms, Philadelphia, PA
Heirloom White Cornmeal - Rineer Family Farms, Pequea, PA

Cheese
Vampire Slayer - Calkins Creamery, Honesdale PA

Dairy
2 Yogurts - Pequea Valley Farms, Ronks, PA
Dozen Eggs - Sandy Ridge Farm, Elizabethtown, PA
           
Meat  (not pictured since sausages don't look pretty in photos...)
Chicken Sausages - Griggstown Quail Farm

We also picked up some rosemary which makes my kitchen smell amazing! And some potatos.  This week I'll be posting some recipes of yummy meals made with our Greensgrow CSA share, my mouth is watering already!