Last year I took a year off from participating in a CSA because I was a bit overscheduled and I didn’t think that I could handle the Massive Produce Influx that a CSA can involve. But this year the stars aligned and it seemed that The Universe wanted me to get o a CSA share, so I headed back to Lansing’s Farm Market in Niskayuna. This year we’re going to do the slightly-more-manageable half share, but it’s still a ton of veggies. When I said that I was headed to the market, J begged to come along. Because she loves flowers.
And she was thrilled. She started “harvesting” the blooms that had fallen off the plants.
Plus she wanted plenty of flower photos.
While J was gathering flowers, I was gathering vegetables. They warned us repeatedly that the early weeks are a little light, but there was plenty, with romaine & red leaf lettuce, Swiss chard, bok choy, chives, rhubarb, and scallions. I knew that they had the arugula for the full-share folks, so I asked if I could buy some for myself, since it’s my favorite green ever. And then while he was off picking me some arugula, IÂ realized that I had exactly $1 with me, so I offered to swap, but Al waved me off and gifted me with arugula.
J, meanwhile, continued on her mission to gather fallen flowers, now with a bag for the harvest. Soon she was getting gifts, too: they pinched extra flowers off of the plants, just as J would have liked to do if she didn’t know that that was strictly not allowed for those who weren’t on staff. Plus, she scored a donut. When offered I realized that M was going to be sad that she hadn’t come along, and J suggested something like, “Well, we can just keep the donut part quiet.” Good idea.
I went home and managed to work both the scallions and the bok choy into dinner, thanks to Martha Stewart (and Hollow Squirrel for suggesting her cookbook)!
