a huge thanks to our farmers

I was moved by the words of Jeff Poppen, the Barefoot farmer in his last missive of the growing season to the CSA supporters. I share part of it here along with a few examples of how we've loved his produce over the last 8 months as a way of saying thanks.


In Jeff's words:

"You get something besides food from this farm, and we get something besides money. I’m reluctant to name it, because it might be love, and love is scary. It makes me woozy, dizzy, so happy and so sad. When you think of us, we feel it here at the farm. And you can feel our care when we are planting a crop before a rain, or harvesting an acre of potatoes. We are connected, and that creates happiness. As the last delivery pulls into town, the sadness of our winter separation dawns on us. We will miss you, but it’s easy to transcend the emotions. We’ll continue to draw on your thoughts and support to get the soil ready for another great year to come."

It's our last week and our last bushel of beautiful produce (like the above roots) from the Long Hungry Creek Farm. We will do it again next year. The farmers have become our friends and we respect what they do more than ever. We've made good use of our farm share and feel fortunate that we were able to use most if not all of what they gave us in some new and interesting ways. I still have butternuts that need to get used. And strange cabbages are crowding my vegetable drawer. There's a radish that is scary long and bitter but tastes great with some sweet cream butter on bread with salt.

The CSA experience has definitely made me a more creative cook. I am no longer a slave to the same lineup of veggies I have always used. I can whip up a turnip gratin, or a butternut squash risotto and it will taste amazing. And I made pumpkin bread from real organic pumpkins and sweet pickles out of baby cucumbers. We tried and loved mizuna in our salads and there is nothing better than Jeff's baby sweet potatoes, roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper and a touch of saffron.


pumpkins and squash


pumpkin spice breads


moroccan sweet potatoes


turnip gratin


sweet potato pie

I will probably never go back to not eating seasonally. We just may have to wait until Spring to taste veggies this good again. But it'll be worth the wait.