So far my CSA farm share boxes are oh, so bountiful. Each week’s box costs $27 and each week’s offerings are a delightful surprise, although the bounty leans toward salad fixings and herbs.

Because Miami is in the tropics, most of the vegetables this time of year are hydroponic and greenhouse grown. My current share comes from Teena's Pride, and I discovered them a a food gardening fair at Fairchild Tropical Garden. (Click here for more on Teena.) In some ways that means my farm share is more consistent than what you’d get in some parts of the country. (Inherent in a CSA farm share purchase is the fact that you share some risk with the farmer. If it’s a good crop, you get more. In bad weather, you might get less. Click here for my blog on CSA basics.)

I’m halfway through the season, and here’s the inventory of my boxes so far:

Week #1: 17 ½ pounds of organic vegetables

• Tomatoes: Large heirlooms in a rainbow of colors; two pints of heirloom cherry tomatoes and “regular” vine-ripened tomatoes on their stems
• Cucumbers: One seedless European variety and a “regular” salad cuke that was slightly too mature for my taste
• Bell peppers: 4 of them, various sizes, some red, some green
• Herbs: A fistful of fresh thyme.
• Salad greens: A huge bag of arugula (slightly wilted, but OK)
• Other veggies: 2 small beets (with greens, wilted); a bountiful bag of Swiss chard.

Week #2: 12 pounds

• Tomatoes: 4 large German heirlooms; smaller tangerine-colored tomatoes; 8 very small heirlooms; a pint of cherry heirlooms; 5 medium vine-ripened
• Cucumbers: 2 large
• Peppers: 2 green, 2 red, 1 yellow; all medium
• Salad greens: a huge bag of tart sorrel and another large bag of greens (oak-shaped leaves) I never could identify
• Herbs: a large bag of basil -- green and purple (very slightly wilted). Was able to revive by placing stems in a glass of water in the fridge.
• Other veggies: 2 small eggplants; 2 small squash (A quick Web search revealed one was a pattypan. The other remains unidentified.)

Week #3: 15 ½ pounds

• Herbs were hefty this week with generous bags of : mint, rosemary, thyme, basil (green and purple), sage and enough tarragon (blooming with tiny orange flowers) to supply an industrial kitchen
• Salad greens: Arugula and baby leaf lettuce
• Cucumbers: 3 medium
• Peppers: 3 medium
• Tomatoes: 4 vine-ripened, several varieties of heirlooms, 1 pint of assorted cherry heirlooms
• Other veggies: 2 beets; 1 pattypan squash and one *orange ball squash (*identified based on an internet search!)

 

 Stay tuned for Dairy of a Farm Share, Chapter 3: How to Eat 90 Pounds of Vegetables