mulberryshoots

Yesterday, I received an invitation to join a CSA share of vegetables etc. from Western Massachusetts. I was tempted to subscribe last year but wasn’t sure if I might be too choosy to deal with deliveries of random food for 20 weeks.

I talked about it with G. and we both agreed that being able to CHOOSE our own vegetables suited our natures better. So today, I started our customized CSA experiment by going to a local farm in Northborough. The CSA subscription costs $30 a week for 20 weeks = $600. So I figured that I might try going with a $30 or less budget at the farmstand. (I also planned to stop at Trader Joe’s on the way home to augment the vegetables from the farm.)

My first visit to Berberian Farms was a little early for vegetables – they said they’d have more of their harvest “after Memorial Weekend,” we were told. Some of the lettuces were from New Jersey as were some of the other produce. HOWEVER, I was able to supply ourselves with these vegetables for a total bill of $12.91. That’s right: for about thirteen dollars.

dozen fresh eggs, extra large

2 Braeburn apples that I’ll use to make a puff pastry apple tart from a recipe I found in “Nordic Kitchen”

a nice eggplant that will be eggplant parmigiana and perhaps some eggplant tempura too

2 Roma tomatoes

nice piece of ginger root – hard to find these

3 zucchini squash for fritters, as a side vegetable and possibly in a frittata

3 large golden beets, to roast in the oven, peeled and slathered with butter, salt and pepper

2 sweet potatoes to bake as a side dish with fresh filet of sole or to accompany oven fried chicken thighs tonight

That’s all for this week’s farmstand trip. Am looking forward to next week’s visit!