Brief today, as it’s Friday and I’m tired. But yesterday I received the best news I’ve had in a while. Our farmer will have a fall CSA season. This is good news on several notes. Of course, we will enjoy having fresh, local, organic greens and vegetables until early winter. His arugula is the best I’ve ever had, and was, in fact, the reason I first reached out to him to inquire about the CSA.
But more important, the farmer who runs our CSA on his one-acre farm, just a few miles from our house, is doing well! (An exclamation point–this must be serious.) He has undergone more than four months of chemotherapy this year, and was not able to do his usual spring planting and begin the CSA earlier in the season. To hear now that things are going well at the moment and that there will be a fall harvest is simply a joy. Did I mention that he is in his early eighties?
As far as our household meal planning is concerned, the timing is ideal. Our garden has really wrapped up for the season, with the exception of some peppers, several more watermelons waiting to fully ripen, and the odd tomato here and there. So now, we will be able to have salads and other food that otherwise wouldn’t have been on the menu. Yes, a person can buy lettuce at the store, but I’ve honestly gotten spoiled after a few years of eating it fresh.
I should have taken more photos of the garden outside our front door. I also should note that I personally have little to do with its survival, though I’m always happy to use whatever food is available for the next meal. Throughout this season, we managed varying amounts of a good variety of food: beets, cabbage, lettuce, kale, peas, beans, winter squash, summer squash, garlic, onions, a patch of basil, tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, peppers, and the yard wrecker, watermelon. It’s worth it because it’s fun, but my goodness it needs its own space. Also its own fridge.
