Community Supported Agriculture a win-win for cooks and farmers!
If you read my previous post about getting my tiny urban garden off to a great start thanks to top-quality organic seedlings from Ferme Pleine Lune, then you already know that I am passionate about supporting local farmers.
I love visiting farm stands and farmers’ markets, and being part of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program is my favourite way to feel truly connected to the hardworking people that feed us city folk. This year I am proud to be working with Ferme Pleine Lune to help spread the word about the many benefits of CSAs, whereby consumers buy shares of a farm’s harvest in advance. This gives the farmers some working capital up front, while the consumers get a weekly or biweekly basket of farm-fresh organic produce throughout the growing season, in return.
One of the things I love most about being part of a CSA is that it encourages me to work with vegetables that I might not otherwise reach for. A great case in point is kohlrabi, which in our growing region is usually available in CSA baskets in mid to late June. It’s a cruciferous vegetable, just like cabbage, broccoli and kale. With smaller bulbs, I tend to prepare it raw while I find larger ones are better enjoyed cooked (roasted kohlrabi is really tasty). If you’re fortunate enough to get your hands on kohlrabi with the leaves still attached, they can be eaten raw or lightly cooked as with other root vegetable greens (here’s my favourite way to prepare radish greens). The taste and texture of kohlrabi remind me of broccoli stems, with a little bit of a pleasant peppery kick added in.
I’m confident kohlrabi will be in the first or second CSA share from Ferme Pleine Lune and I’m really looking forward to repeatedly preparing this fabulous slaw recipe with kohlrabi, carrots and apples. It’s a combo that delivers big on both flavour and nutrition (kohlrabi is packed with vitamins C and B6, potassium, heaps of fibre and even some protein, and the apples and carrots deliver goodness as well). It’s an easy, delicious way to enjoy a delightful early-season vegetable.
One last comment about Ferme Pleine Lune’s CSA program – farmers Jon Smiley and Randi Townsend tell me there are still some spots available if you’d like to be a part of a delicious and satisfying initiative. You get to feel good about supporting local farmers, and you get to eat super-fresh organic produce. Find out more about how their program works (including options for size/frequency of farm baskets plus the chance to swap out produce you may not prefer for other items you like more), check out their FAQs or simply hop straight over to their signup page. And take it from me – a CSA share also makes an incredibly thoughtful gift, whether it’s for a wedding, Father’s Day or just because!
Constantly Cooking with Paula Roy 