Sippel CSA report 5/30/09

Todd and I decided to do a CSA this year and actually got signed up for one. We talked about it last year but just never got around to it. For anyone who might not know, a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is where you basically buy a small share of a farm. You pay up front and then get veggies every week during the growing season. You theoretically are also assuming some of the risk that the farmers bear but can also reap the rewards. www.localharvest.org is a great web site to read more about them and find one near you.

I decided to start showing off our weekly haul on here. I know when we were trying to decide whether or not to do one, we really wanted to know more about what we'd actually get.

We decided to go with the Sippel Family Farm for our CSA. So far, I love it!

Week one was 5/23/09, and I didn't take a picture. They said it was a light week since it was the very beginning of the season. We got:
1 giant head of lettuce (I mean GIANT)
1 bag of spinach leaves
1 bag of mixed salad greens
1 large bunch of mint

This fit fully into a grocery sack. I used some of the lettuce to make a giant Greek salad for a BBQ on Monday and then the rest for another Greek salad for Todd and I later that week (plus some for lunch for me). We got 2 dinner salads out of the mixed greens and 3 big spinach salads out of the spinach. I haven't done anything with the mint yet but I plan to try to freeze it so we can have mojitos sometime. :)

One thing I noticed that was great was how long everything stayed fresh. We didn't have the spinach until Thursday night, and I know that the spinach I normally buy goes bad in that amount of time. I imagine this must have something to do with how ridiculously fresh the food was and also how much time "normal" produce must waste in the processing and trucking to get it to us.

So, week 2, 5/30/09. We got:
1 head of bibb lettuce (not quite as big as last week's lettuce but still big)
1 bag of mixed salad greens (even bigger)
1 bunch of kale
1 bunch of radishes
1 bunch of green onions

I love that this week is pretty different from last week! I've never cooked kale or really done anything with radishes, so this week should be fun. Here's a picture of our haul:



While I was at the Clintonville Farmers Market, I also picked up some ridiculously fresh strawberries. You have to go really early to get the berries, as they sell out quickly. I was so excited to be there on time (thanks to getting up early to start my run early) that I bought 3 things of berries from 2 different farms. They're so good it's amazing. They're so ripe that there is no white part near the stem. Just stem and then juicy redness. I dropped one onto the counter from about 4 inches up and it splattered a bit. That's how juicy they are. Needless to say, they're already almost gone. PS, if you've never had homegrown fresh berries, you should really try them. They're so different from the kind you buy in the stores. In some ways, they're less sweet than the best grocery store ones, but they have so much flavor.



Ok, that seems like enough rambling about food! I coordinated a wedding yesterday so I need to get caught up on normal household things today. It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day in Columbus today!

phew

I feel so busy right now!!! Wow. Work is really busy right now. Life is busy. I did take some time out today to go on a behind-the-scenes tour of the OSU football stadium (work-organized, but also part of the reason I feel so crazy - it ended up taking 2 hours!). It was so cool. I'll steal some pics form my friend/coworker Dave and post them. We got to do all kinds of things - go in the locker room, walk on the field (barefoot for me!), go in the press box, a suite, etc.

I'm in the midst of making biscotti for one of my favorite security guards at work. He's retiring tomorrow and he loves my biscotti, so I'm making some for him. I also wanted to get my herbs potted tonight, but since it's almost 9 and I still have work work to do, I think it will have to wait until tomorrow night. Plus I have a walkthrough with a bride and her mom tomorrow (wedding is Saturday) so I need to make sure I'm prepared for that.

Hope everyone is having a nice week and had a great Memorial Day weekend!

diagnosis

So I finally went to the doctor and she confirmed I have a sinus infection. She gave me a prescription for antibiotics, so hopefully I am on the road to wellness. I can't deal much longer. :)

I'm so busy at work right now that I actually have to do some work at home right now. what the heck? :)

Still sick

I'm not sure if it was allergies but I am STILL sick. I'm going nuts. I've been trying to drag myself out to go running but it is torture, as I can barely even breathe. Yuck.

Sorry I've been so lax on posting lately. I've been super busy in pretty much every aspect of life. :) I am SO ready for the three day weekend!!

Congratulations!!!

I wanted to send a giant congratulations to Adriane and Andy, who got married yesterday!!! It was such a great wedding. I was very busy this past week getting ready for it but now I can relax a bit. And maybe if I recover from this ferocious hangover, I'll even update my blog today. :)

Adriane and Andy, the wedding was so much fun!!! You are SUCH an adorable couple. :)

Welcome Scarlett!

In other exciting news this week, Todd's sister had her first baby on Monday! Scarlett Magdalene was born on May 4 and everyone is doing fine. Provided I'm not feeling like crap and/or contagious, we'll be heading out to visit on Sunday. She looks adorable in the pictures, so I can't wait to see her!

allergies

I have felt like crap all week. I even went to the doctor and they said it was just allergies. YUCK! This is much different that normal. My throat hurts in the morning, my head pounds all day long and the medicine I'm taking makes me feel loopy. Icky.

Official time

1:56:03! That's an 8:52 minute mile average. :)

New half marathon PR!!

well, despite looking like it would be cold and rainy, the weather this morning was perfect for a long run, and I got a PR in my half! I had 1:56 on my watch but they still don't have the freaking official results up yet. So we'll see what I actually got. I went out a little fast in the beginning so the end was kind of hard, but I was thrilled with how it went. I only had one mile (other than the first, when you're just trying to get through the big crowd of people) that was slower than 9 minutes. I was shocked at how fast I was running and how great I felt (at least until the last few miles, ha!). I think my Garmin said my average speed was 8:47 per mile or so. (But it also said I ran 13.25 miles instead of the 13.1 I did run.) Stay tuned for an official time and pace.

A bunch of my friends running the race also got PRs, so congrats to all of them too!!!!! You guys all ROCK! And some are still running in Pittsburgh tomorrow, so GOOD LUCK!!