Farm-fresh food a winner

A few of my favourite things about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)!

I have been asked a lot this summer why I am such a fan of supporting local farms via the CSA model. I find the system so easy to navigate and really works for my family, plus we eat SO well when I have the freshest, top quality ingredients available. The process is simple – you pay up front at the beginning of the growing season for your farm share, and then reap the rewards throughout the late spring, summer and early fall.

I partnered with Ferme Pleine Lune (Full Moon Farm) this year so I could enjoy their lovingly-grown organic produce and it’s been an absolute delight. When it’s my turn to pick up my share at a convenient local spot (they have several throughout Ottawa in addition to the Wakefield Farmers’ Market plus home delivery is an option too), I feel a little like a kid on Christmas morning. What will I come home with this week? What will I make with it?

I have to confess that I get more than a little excited when I find some dirt in my CSA produce. It’s an authentic reminder that the vegetables were picked by hand and transported promptly to me. They have not been washed with chemicals, packaged nor trucked a great distance and the dirt – to me – speaks to their freshness, and the care with which they were planted, tended and harvested.

Another thing I love about being part of a CSA is that I find I am continuously inspired to try new things or find inventive ways to use the produce. I had never even heard of tatsoi – a member of the brassica family and similar to bok choy – until it showed up as part of my first share in June. (It’s delicious sautéed with a little sesame oil, by the way).

Recently, I transformed the most beautiful eggplant I’d ever seen into the most delicious eggplant parmesan I’ve ever made or eaten. As I work on old and new recipes with my CSA vegetables, I strive to honour the farmers’ hard work by making sure I make the best possible use of the food which they have provided. (You might want to subscribe to this site – look for the ‘follow updates via email button – as I have some super recipes coming up for tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes and more).

Ferme Pleine Lune has a great model whereby at pickup time there are some set items in predefined quantities based on the size of share you have purchased. The options include some you can swap out for a substitute if they’re not your favourite as well as some ‘free choice’ items if there is an abundance of them at the farm that week. I always come home brimming with inspiration and never feel ‘stuck’ with something I don’t know what to do with. And because the vegetables are so fresh, I find they last a long time in the fridge so there is little to no waste, which means I am saving money. I often recommend that people look to canning or juicing as needed to ensure they maximize the benefit of being a CSA member.

Lastly – and I cannot possibly overstate this – you won’t believe how flavourful just-picked organic vegetables taste, which means they are also as nutrient-rich as possible too. Many local farms offer winter CSA programs which you can sign up for now, if you don’t want to wait until next spring to get in on all the delicious, sustainable action.