CSA aka Consuming Squash All Summer Long

when i was younger, just a few years past teenager-hood, i often wondered if i could ever get my shit together enough to meet some of the small goals i'd been mentally compiling. you know, all those things that we think and hope will help us along the road to self improvement. it's interesting to look back from time to time and see which of those have come to fruition, and which still reside on the "well, maybe one day" list.

a small sampling:
stop biting my nails - maybe one day.
take yoga classes - check.
learn to drive stick - nope.
bake bread from scratch - yup.
crochet sweaters and blankets - not so much.
have a photography show - check!
become a master gardener - ...no.
start a food blog - double check!!

you see how it goes? and i try not to get down on myself for those goals not yet actualized; i know there is lots and lots of time to learn new skills and try stuff out. one of the goals that i'd been totally slacking on since my time living in philly is subscribing to a CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it's a way for farmers to get their crops to larger groups of paying customers. People buy "shares" from the farmers, and then receive weekly or bi-monthly boxes of fresh, seasonal produce all throughout the summer and fall! brilliant, right? in cities (or in philadelphia, at least), this often done by drop offs of boxes of produce at farmer's markets. it's such an undeniably awesome program, i can't really say why i've dragged my feet about it over the past few years.

so this year, finally, the VR team signed up for a CSA, through greensgrow farms, a super rad urban garden in kensington (how cute is the banner on their website with the tiny bottles of beer and watermelons?). this past saturday was our first pick up, and it was a thrill! i drove over there around 10, and the farm was bustling! it was a lovely summer morning, and all kinds of adorable people and their children were shopping for produce, flowers, and plants. a cuter scene, i've never seen. i walked away with a big smile, and a bag full of beautiful produce:

just a few items from our first CSA crop!

aren't those radishes gorgeous? my favorite new little snack is bread with a generous layer of earth balance (or butter), thinly sliced radishes and a tiny pinch of salt. very frenchie.
can't wait to see what our CSA shares for the rest of the summer hold in store!

love,
emily