Open Thread – Black Thursday
4 12 2009This is the saddest day of the month. At least as far as vegetables are concerned. I signed up a couple months ago to start receiving a Glacier Valley Farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box. What this means is that every Wednesday, I get a gigantic box full to the brim with organic veggies. Most are grown in Alaska, but during the winter they supplement with produce from other places.
But, I will tell you this. Every week, they are awesome, and every Wednesday night I open the box like a kid at Christmas and discover classic favorites (carrots and onions) and delicious new treats (Delicata squash? Celery Root? Fuyu persimmons?) And every Thursday I’ve got a giant salad, or a pot bubbling on the stove with some sort of fabulous cruciferous vegetable, or the juicer is happily humming away. But there is no delivery on the first Wednesday of every month. So the first Thursday leaves me a liitle blue.
I’ve tried to be philosophical about it, and use the “first Thursday” to practice some sort of gratitue exercise in which I try to realize that sometimes people don’t appreciate something until it isn’t there. But usually I just pout because I didn’t get my box.
A couple weeks ago, I took this picture. This is the content of ONE box! It was so gorgeous I just had to remember it.
Pomegranates, persimmons, 3 colors of potatoes, fresh garlic, brussels sprouts, it just went on and on.
Anyway, if you’d like to support some great local people and get a delicious organic treat every Wednesday (except the first one) click HERE and sign up. You just pre-order boxes whenever you want them, and choose a pickup spot to collect your treasures!
And if you live out of Anchorage (poor thing), do go online and see if there’s a good local CSA near you!
December 4th, 2009 at 12:27 AM
I can totally recommend this. I was using a service like this over the summer (can´t right now, because I´m not around when they deliver) and I loved openening my fresh veg and fruit box. It was so much fun (and saved so much time shopping and chosing and gets me to try new stuff).
I´m looking forward to when I can order their stuff again….
December 4th, 2009 at 2:46 AM
what a great idea
December 4th, 2009 at 3:41 AM
CSA’s rule. This is the hope and the future of sustainable local agriculture.
December 4th, 2009 at 4:17 AM
We have a great CSA in the summer here…Gong Garden…and it actually does have a huge gong in the yard of the farm that my grandkids just love to gong
in winter we have our local organic market…as much local as possible…and I just ordered my free range eggs from a friend and she will bring them to church for me
support CSA…local farmers doing incredible things
December 4th, 2009 at 4:26 AM
That is one beautiful photo! Makes me happy just looking at it.
I’m glad you posted this. It reminded me that I need to add the CSA info to our local news site. I think this is something everyone should know about.
You also reminded me to get back to reading, “The Fatal Harvest Reader – The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture ” . It’s a collection of essays from eco and agrarian “thinkers” , discussing the devastating result of our industrialized agricultural system and offering ideas about how we might better move forward. It’s actually where I first got hooked on the idea of CSAs. It’s a really a great read and I highly recommend it.
And hey – I covet your brussel sprouts!! They look delicious!
December 4th, 2009 at 5:11 AM
AKM-
We have CSA Full Circle Farm
http://fullcirclefarm.com/delivery_options.html
available in many parts of Alaska.
I have particpated in this CSA from Washington state since they first started shipping into Southeast Alaska.
I also have some similar photos of garden bounty spread out in all it’s beauty
Son and wonderful DIL ( whose only fault is she wanted them to stay in her native Maine) have a CSA near them . They bicycle to the farm every week for their goodies (and a big picnic style breakfast most weeks).
Gardening in SE AK is a special challenge with our cool wet ( usually very wet ) summers but every year finds more of us figuring out how to grow more things well and with good food from our CSA neighbors we can let go of more of the cardboard veggies and fruits shipped in …
December 4th, 2009 at 5:39 AM
We have our own large organic garden each summer, but there are some things we simply don’t grow well. Fortunately, we have a bi-weekly farmer’s market where we can supplement those things we crave but don’t grow. It started out small a few years ago, but has outgrown the allotted space in town and now has a huge area in the center of downtown. The prices are very reasonable and the quality is the best.
In the fall, the high school band raises money by selling cases of fruit, such as oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit. The cost is a bit higher than the local grocery stores, but the quality is better and it helps to support a good cause.
We share our bounty with several elderly and needing families in our area as well as donations to the Salvation Army soup kitchen. Local radio stations have been mentioning the need for donations of food items to sustain the various shelters. Should anyone have the wherewithal to donate a few cans to your local agencies, it would certainly be appreciated by them, and especially by those needy people they feed daily.
December 4th, 2009 at 5:53 AM
GG2C-
You reminded me of something else about my CSA drop off point here.
It is at the local youth center. The farm sends a box of fruit for the kids every week for serving as a drop off/pickup point.
Also- if folks forget (??? but they do) to pick up their boxes the veggies are made into hot soups for the kids… good warm nutritious food for a lot of kids who might not be getting it at home.
December 4th, 2009 at 7:27 AM
I belonged to a CSA two years while undergoing breast cancer treatment…not the wisest move on my part as the picking up and then trying to learn how to use several new (to me) produce was just too overwhelming.
However, the produce never failed in taste and visual beauty.
The grocery stores here carry local produce but there is no guaranty that they are organic. I still try to buy them over products shipped in from other countries to limit environmental impact.
A great web site to locate a CSA or farmer’s market near you is:
http://www.localharvest.org
A wonderful book to read on the subject of local eating:
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
Buffalogal, do you mind me asking which CSA you belong to? The one I used is Native Offerings, great outfit!
December 4th, 2009 at 7:44 AM
I have friends who share CSA boxes between two or three families in their neighborhood – a very nice arrangement since they can rotate pick-up duty and share ideas on what to do with all that !@#$ okra.
Last night I harvested the last of the basil from our community garden plot… I’ve got it in vases and bowls all over the house. This afternoon we are supposed to get SNOW here in Austin – a rare and exciting event.
December 4th, 2009 at 8:43 AM
CSAs and greenmarkets (both of which we have here in NYC) are a great way to “know your produce,” and a wonderful opportunity to get to know the people who grow our food. When I get something great at one of my greenmarkets (don’t be jealous, access to great, local, organic produce is a perk for living in a crowded city), I have another way to say “thank you” that’s better than just putting a few (or more) dollars into the grower’s hand.
When I prepare one of my gourmet live food dishes, I save a portion, bring it back to the greenmarket on my next visit, and give it to the proprietor, saying “I made this pesto from your basil and parsley; thank you for growing my food,” or something to that effect. If my change is a small amount, I often tell them to keep it. One of the growers (from whom I purchased all that were left of her golden raspberries) was so accustomed to everyone trying to get more of a bargain, that when I told her to keep the change, she started to cry! I said, I love farmers, without you, I’d have to move out of the city and learn to drive!
Health care reform is moving (slowly) through the Senate. However, insurance reform and cutting wasteful medical spending will do very little to improve our health UNLESS we make huge changes to the way our food is produced. I do not relate to most of what’s on the shelf in the supermarket as food at all. I realize, being vegan and eating local, organic food makes me a rare bird. I spend a lot of money on food. However, if not for the accident a year ago, my medical bills (minus dental hygiene) would have been the same as they’ve been for years: ZERO. Yes, you read that right. I get a pap smear every few years, get my teeth cleaned, and that’s IT. Educate yourself about nutrition, and share what you know with others. There’s a lot of conflicting information, so use your intuition, too.
I wish all mudpuppies health and peace.
December 4th, 2009 at 9:28 AM
I’m lucky to live in a place that still has local farm stands. They are wonderful but even here in CA they will shutter for a few months of winter. Our farmer markets will continue all year but mostly it either greenhouse stuff and the citrus and avocado harvest during our winter months. We are lucky that even our supermarkets buy some local produce and label as such.
I also appreciate the larger farms who are growing for all the city folk and the “canning” industry. During the season I see big trucks full of bright red peppers, green beans and green leafy things barreling down the highway heading off to a packing houses. The packing houses run 24 hours during the season to get good food to all our tables. Yep, this has become big business here in CA. There is nothing like the smell of Gilroy on a June morning when the fog is carrying the aroma of fresh garlic all the way to south San Jose, (it makes it easy to find your way). A little mix of herbs too as this is a major Schilling location for all that stuff you buy dried. It makes me glad that we can share our bounty with so many so far even if it is in a jar of Italian sauce.
Now what I hope is the the current admin will restore the FDA staffing and budget to make sure our food supplies are safe.
December 4th, 2009 at 9:57 AM
The Alaska blogs are so fast moving that the Dec 3 posting at Palingates that absolutely nails Sarah’s distorted self-reporting versus the video of what she actually said when asked what she would do if her daughter was pregnant from rape seems to have caught little attention.
http://palingates.blogspot.com/2009/12/pinocchio-palin-does-it-again-another.html?commentPage=1
Palin uses the incident to show herself as a media victim, even in the 2006 Governor race- saying that she was singled out with a question neither of her opponents were asked. The video shows that each of Palin, Knowles and Halcro answered with the Palin advocating life and the men advocating choice.
So, in falsely remembering or deliberately spinning this story, she told it that she, the good pro-life woman, was asked and her nameless opponents were not. She could also have told a fuller story and identified the men as making anti-life answers but chose not to.
Why did she tell it this way? Was it a deliberate refusal to give Knowles and Halcro the positive regard that pro-choice people would credit their answers with? Or does she really mis-remember this as a simple incident of media abuse? (It may well have been a moment of memorable discomfort as she is alone as a minority voice, spun as “it was the media abuse and not my position that made me feel defensive.”
How many documentable detailed falsehoods like this could be gleaned from “Rogue” to make a package for psychological analysis? I think there are enough for expert weighing.
My gut feeling is that she really does remember everything this way-a narrow slice of reality that was “me” and virtually no detail about the rest of the situation. I have a bi-polar friend who sounds a lot like Sarah when that friend isn’t watching her meds.
December 4th, 2009 at 10:01 AM
Re previous post- or, it is proof of Palin going lalalalala while Knowles and Halcro were talking.
December 4th, 2009 at 10:19 AM
Thanks, AKM and thats TerryNY for the link. I called a local CSA near me. He was friendly and the cost is $25/wk. Not too bad. He says that he will be linking with a friend that has a bakery to purchase fresh bread and scones, etc.
December 4th, 2009 at 10:20 AM
correction: and thanks, TerryNY
December 4th, 2009 at 10:32 AM
Yikes, I just read the CNN report on Shishmaref – the tragedy of global warming made personal.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/12/03/shishmaref.alaska.climate.change/
Don’t read this if you can’t handle an account of tragic death just at this moment in the day…I’m still shook up.
December 4th, 2009 at 10:52 AM
I have to second what AlaskaPi said about Full Circle Farm. We get a box every other week from them too, and it’s great! They’ve partnered with all sorts of other business to supply coffee and tea and chocolate and eggs and grains and breads too.
December 4th, 2009 at 12:16 PM
http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
Here’s a website with a search function for CSA’s in your location.
December 4th, 2009 at 1:16 PM
Thanks, AKM, for inspiring me to change my weekend plans. I always visit the local farmstands during the growing season and I’m grateful that I live in a city that is surrounded by wonderful agriculture. During the colder weather, the Rochester Public Market still offers great products from local people and I often forget to take advantage.
Tomorrow will be spent digging up the rest of my own yummy garden carrots (fingers crossed that the ground hasn’t frozen yet!). On Sunday, I will mosey on over to the Public Market and see what treats they have for me there!
December 4th, 2009 at 1:19 PM
OMG they are still at it:
A widely viewed video seems to show President Obama stating that he is a Muslim. It is false, and the product of dishonest editing.
http://factcheck.org/2009/12/truth-on-the-cutting-room-floor/
December 4th, 2009 at 2:10 PM
Has anyone seen HuffPo? Andree McLeod has filed another ethics complaint and they have 200+ pages of emails posted there.
December 4th, 2009 at 6:35 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/04/palin-gets-another-ethics_n_380688.html
Link for SJP’s info above…
December 4th, 2009 at 6:36 PM
Oh, BTW…Atlanta, GA (yes, the deep south) may have SNOW overnight tonight!
Houston area had around 4″ today…
December 4th, 2009 at 6:40 PM
Forgot to add when giving the link…read thru most of the e-mails, particularly noting the date/time stamps.
Can you say BUSTED!?!?!?!
December 4th, 2009 at 7:31 PM
Palin on Lars Larson Radio Show yesterday- all 10 min are up on youtube.
At about 4:30 I’ve listened twice and I think she said the US has 11 to 13 Billion illegal aliens. Someone please listen- I’m a bit deaf.
December 4th, 2009 at 7:41 PM
The media down in Texas weren’t too happy about being pretty-much shut out from Palin’s visit —-
Sarah Palin visits Norman bookstore; press tightly controlled
By Andrew Griffin on December 4, 2009
http://oklahoma.watchdog.org/2009/12/04/sarah-palin-visits-norman-bookstore-press-tightly-controlled/
“Several people spoke with Red Dirt Report saying they hoped Palin would run for president in 2012. Many identify with her as a plainspoken, down-to-earth American who desires an America that embraces traditional values. But if Gov. Palin cannot speak to those people, or the press, than she is getting off on the wrong foot if she has any desire to run for the ‘12 election. Her handlers are already botching things up big time.
“I can assure you that last night’s experience left a bad taste in the mouths of more than one reporter and photographer.”
December 4th, 2009 at 8:01 PM
check this out:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/04/vitter-coburn-public-opti_n_380933.html
“Democrats took on a pair of Republican senators Friday, signing on to an amendment that would make lawmakers join the public option.
On Thursday, thinking Democratic senators would balk at the idea, Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) introduced the gimmick health-care amendment.
But Democrats called their bluff, and the Republicans wouldn’t allow it. When Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) tried to become a co-sponsor of the amendment, he got the cold shoulder.
So Brown, joined by Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), and Al Franken (D-Minn.), forced his way onto the amendment with a unanimous consent vote.
God, I love Franken. He makes me so proud. And I’m never even been to Minnesota.
December 4th, 2009 at 10:41 PM
@TerryNY – I’m not a member of our WNY CSA yet because I don’t have a pick-up location that I can get to easily. I publish a local online news site though and I give ad and content space to CSA , “green”, etc. orgs & businesses.
I’ll be hopping over to the link for your local CSA. Thanks! Here’s a link for you and others in Western New York : http://www.slowfoodbuffalo.org/tags/csa/
I’ve really enjoyed the comments on this thread . Sharing the joy of garden harvest is a wonderful thing!