Summer, Day 5 - Gardening

This is actually yesterday's post. I should have had plenty of time last night to write this, since we had no after camp/work activities, but somehow we were still busy and I didn't even get a few things accomplished that I wanted to (like hanging the pegboard in the garage).

We are doing our level best here at Phillips-Turner Central to eat fresh, organic food that comes from nearby this summer. The boys and I have been pretty good about getting to the Saturday morning farmer's market near us (their motivation lies in the pastries and crepes that are sold there) for the past few years. This year, we also decided to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), thanks in large part to Tara mentioning them to me when I still had time to sign up. (The previous two years I missed the sign-up window.) So, every Friday we pick up our allotment and figure out what to make with it all. Part of the idea is to be introduced to new produce, so I've had to do some searching for recipes online and even had to look up what the heck the item was that I received. To give you an idea of what we get in a week, here's what came in our bag last week:
                       -     1 whole roasting chicken, giblets included (approx 5 lbs)

-          1 bunch green onions

-          1 bunch red beets with tops

-          1 bunch white radishes (French breakfast style)

-          1 bunch garlic scapes (2 scapes per bunch)

-          1 bunch spinach

-          1 head soil grown romaine lettuce

-          1 dozen free range organic brown eggs

-          1 quart strawberries

I bought three extra quarts of strawberries when I picked up our portion and then managed to leave most of them, rinsed, on the counter for two days without doing anything with them other than letting everyone chow at will. So by Sunday, I had about half left and they were quite mushy, so I made them into homemade ice cream. See how I take something very healthy and make it not so?? Yesterday for dinner I made sauteed tilapia with beets and beet greens, which was much better than I expected. Neither of the boys liked it, and Dan said it wasn't something that he'd like to have frequently (the beets part, not the tilapia - that was awesome), but it was tasty and we felt very healthy eating it. Well, except for the bacon that was part of the beets recipe. I see a theme emerging.

The final way we're focusing on healthy, local eating is by having a small garden. Reece and I are the gardeners, and we've planted cherry/grape/pear tomato plants, sweet peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, and a chocolate mint plant in our new backyard (which also now has grass - see photos below). I went out today to tie the tomato plants to their stakes, and I noticed THREE itty bitty tomatoes growing! I'm surprised at how excited I am about this. All the plants are doing very well right now, so I'm cautiously optimistic. I don't, however, expect to bring many of the little tomatoes into the house, because I expect that they'll mostly be eaten right off the bushes. Reece and I have a weakness.

The garden from afar, and GRASS! Oh, and the swingset that has yet to be fully assembled. That was also on my list for last night.

The garden close-up, and the little tomatoes even closer-up.