We took the plunge and joined a CSA this year. Gina's CSA.
The community garden is great and we get a lot of produce out of little space but we still buy lots of seasonal produce at both Whole Foods and Kimberton Whole foods. Kimberton is all organic and local if they can get it and a semi-local business so that's the store of choice but it is a trek so we get there twice a month.
In the garden, I keep us in salad greens from March to December, sometimes into January. I also do a good job with my herb obsession. I find that it's the herbs that, in the end, keep me gardening. Imagine not having fresh sage year round. In early June we have marjoram thyme sorrel lovage (yea-it overwintered and is established) borage, epazote perilla, spearmint, peppermint, it goes on.
In my backyard in the "nursery" I have flats of basil and Thai basil, more sorrel (plants are periennial but only last about 5 years so I try to start a new batch each year. and several pots of Vietnamese coriander. I tried to take this in and over winter it again but it was a bust so I went to the Asian grocery at 12th and Washington, bought 2 bags of rau ram cut the stems and put them in a jar topped this off with a zip lock bag and waited a week. Roots appeared and I planted it out in three big pots it looks like I have 15 plants. I love this stuff. When it grows more I'll cut some and repeat the rooting process.
Gina introduced our community garden to the coffee bag path, it's great and keeps the paths almost weed free all season. she gets coffee bags from a roaster. She has used them to supress the weed on the paths at her farm for years. We've heard about her farm. She sells her produce at the Clark Park farmers market. She recently the farm relocated to the Schulykill Center and started the CSA.
I'm distracted. I wanted to talk about Gina's CSA. We have been buying eggs from Gina all winter. Their just wonderful. Her hens lay these greenish blue eggs and speckled brown eggs that are tastier that any in the market and we only buy organice eggs.
We got our first allocation Saturday. She asked me if I wanted peas or snow peas I chose snow peas. She grabbed a huge bag.
We got great greens for cooking and eating raw. Bok choy Japanese Turnips, baby kale and mustard. and a quart of huge strawberries.
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