According to my calendar, we have six weeks left for the CSA farm this season. I might try to work my way in there at some point during the off season to see what’s going on and whether they have any other types of organic food that we can purchase. Stay tuned for more pictures from the farm.

As you can see, we picked up more vegetables (especially yellow squash and zucchini) than we have in the recent past. Also, I can tell you that the share we received from Saturday, September 11th was pretty substantial, which is a good thing. Stay tuned – more pictures in the coming days…

Pretty cool, huh? The alternative to having these chickens freely ranging around the farm is to have them all cooped up in ridiculous small cages, pecking at each other for sustenance since they’re not able to find food on their own. It’s gross what the industrialized farms do to their animals – which is why I like seeing these chickens walking around like they own the place each week!

Sunday morning breakfast - side shot

Sunday morning breakfast - top shot

Okay, so right off the bat you should know that the wheat toast and the eggs are from Wegmans, not the farm. The ingredients from the local CSA farm are: fresh garlic, green peppers, yellow squash, and red tomatoes. I added the mushrooms (a lot of mushrooms – also from Wegmans), bacon bits, and some salt and pepper. It was absolutely delicious!

Part of what makes the food that I make with farm food so tasty is the fact that the organic produce seems to have more “punch” in terms of flavor. The garlic is much more potent than the stuff you buy at the store, the green peppers actually have a strong peppery taste, and the yellow squash is great. I’m looking forward to picking up more of this delicious produce this Saturday!

It's getting better...

While this week’s take was better than last week’s, it’s still not the same type of abundance that we experienced during the first few weeks of this year’s season. I talked to the farmer a little bit and it seems that the fields are very dry and thus affecting the overall output of the farm. New Jersey has had a weird weather system this summer, flipping between scorching hot days, stuffy humid days, and the occasional rainy days.

Oh well. Tomorrow I’m going to post pictures of the omelet that I ate for breakfast this morning. It was a delicious combination of produce from the farm!

Eh. Scant at best.

Pretty scant, huh? All that I was able to pick up in addition to what’s in the picture is some berries. I am, of course, heading back to the farm this Saturday morning so I’m hoping that there is a better take this week. In any event, I’ll post the results here.

Another thing that I picked up from reading this book was the existence of community supported agriculture (CSA). With CSA, a consumer pays a set dollar amount to buy a “share” in the farm’s produce; their share comes in the form of a weekly or monthly box of produce that are grown at the farm. This is a good idea for a variety of reasons including the freshness of the items, supporting the local economy, and creating a sustainable method of getting food on your plate.

Pretty interesting, huh? Well, I’ve kept this idea in my head for the last few months and this past weekend I joined the Merrick Farm CSA program in Farmingdale, NJ by purchasing a half share for the coming season. The half share costs $375 (which I’ll split 50/50 with one of my roommates) and entitles me to a weekly box of vegetables, herbs, some fruits, and other 100% certified organic offerings grown at the farm, which is about fifteen minutes from my house. The length of time that the share is active runs from the first week of June through the last week of October – 22 weeks in total. The weekly cost of the share is about $17 ($8.50 per week once I split it with my roommate). There’s no way I’d be able to get a box of organic vegetables each week and spend only $8.50! Plus, the farmer suggested that we might be able to begin getting some produce earlier than the first week of June, but it’s a long shot.

I’m hoping that this turns out to be a good deal. I did some preliminary research on the farm everyone has good things to say about it. During my visit this past Saturday I liked what I saw and I was very happy with the information that I received. More on my involvement in the CSA program as it comes…