Our first CSA delivery: oh, the bounty

We received our first CSA delivery on May 18, 2009, a little over a year ago. This is a reprint of the post I wrote that day.

Woo hoo! Our first CSA box arrived today! And here it is all spread out. What a haul. Honestly, I don't even know what some of this stuff IS.

When I joined The Compact, I didn't even know what CSA stood for. It means Community Supported Agriculture, and it's a familiar acronym to people involved in the local food movement. It's basically like going to the Farmer's Market, except the Farmer's Market comes to you. You're supporting local farmers who grow organic produce. The service visits all the Farmer's Markets in the area and finds the freshest offerings each week. Our service (Auntie Em's) even delivers it to your doorstep. Eating local and organic is better for the environment AND for your health.

This adventure of Buying Nothing New is leading me in all kinds of directions I never would have imagined. I know I've said before that I'm not really the type of person who does things Nike-style. I'm more of a deliberator, I like to weigh the pros and cons and take my time with a decision. But in this case, I dove right in. Last week I saw this post over at My Friend Oprah and within two days I was signed up and eagerly awaiting our first delivery. I simply couldn't think of any downside to doing it.

Luckily I asked for delivery every other week, because this is A LOT of produce. All we have to do is leave out the box on our doorstep by early morning the day of our next delivery. Our service also includes a list of what's inside with suggestions for preparation, plus a recipe. This week's is Alice Water's Swiss Chard gratin (recipe follows). Tonight we'll have our friends over for that plus some fresh fava beans spread on crostini. And fresh cherries for dessert! The apricots will probably be gone by the time they get here (I love apricots!)

This week's bonanza also includes spring garlic, purple sprouting broccoli, Detroit red beets, and red scarlett turnips. Any suggestions on what to do with the turnips or anything else you see here? Please leave your ideas in the Comments section.