Special Delivery

We received our first CSA box share today!!  I could not have been more stoked when Moira (from Lindentree) arrived around noon with the goods!   I broke away from work and ran downstairs to pick out the box that I would split with my friend, Julia.  I know that this is silly but I sort of got choked up when I opened it…

I have a few years of gardening experience under my belt now.  I know many of the frustrations as well as how triumphant it can feel when you have a successful harvest.  As the different farms have dropped off the first shares of what will hopefully be a bountiful season for all, I feel a lot of excitement for them and for the people that will, hopefully, feel as much delight as I did when I saw what awaited me in the box.

So, what was in it?

This week yielded some Red Russian kale, arugula, bok choy, lettuce, broccoli, French breakfast radishes and STRAWBERRIES!  Molly was happy to see them sitting on the counter.  She has really enjoyed munching on them over the course of the afternoon.  I’ve enjoyed watching her.

I had some leftover rice and bean soup from last night that I reheated with some veggie sausage.  I lightly panfried the kale along with it.  The soup has a funny story.  For the past few months, we’ve been eating a really nice 17 Bean and Barley soup mix from Trader Joe’s.  It’s a small bag of dried beans that they sell for less than two bucks.  The last few times that we’ve searched for it, it hasn’t been on the shelf.  Many of you Trader Joe’s shoppers are all too familiar with this story, I’m sure.  Anyways, I decided to ask about the beans and the people behind the counter informed me that it was a seasonal item and had been discontinued.  The woman told me that a few of the larger stores in the area might still have some.

While we were in Burlington over the weekend, we stopped into the TJ’s up there to grab a few things for dinner and we saw some of the bean soup!  We bought ten bags.  If I’d thought that Chris would have let me get away with it, I would have grabbed the other eight!  It’s such a quick and easy crockpot meal and that’s worth a lot!

I’ve been craving some breakfast radishes so I have plans to grab a loaf of bread while I’m out tomorrow.  I also can’t wait to whip up a salad with that lettuce.  I’m already curious to see what will be waiting in the box next week….