Garden Update & CSA Crate Loot #10

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Good evening, lovelies!

How are you? Hope you’ve had a wonderful Saturday. I managed to get some things done around the home front but other than that the REAL highlight was going to the farmer’s market and picking up our CSA crate. The Farmer’s Market seems to be getting busier by the weekend. I was a little later than normal and missed out on the cilantro and squash blossoms. I was early to the CSA pickup though and scored extra plums and bell peppers! wOOt, wOOt! Seriously, can’t believe we’ve enjoyed 12 crate loads so far on this locavore journey of ours.

I only came home with swiss chard and strawberries from the Farmer’s Market because between the garden and CSA crate; we’re getting lot’s of great seasonal produce. Still love to support local farmer’s though!!

Check it out!

I’m always amazed by how quickly things grow ...

the watermelons are taking off…especially this one!

Baby cucumbers… whoohoo!

Cute lil itty bitty beans, curling… do you see them… ?? adorb!

Do you think fairies play inside these magical bean stalks??!! I do! 

Our family of baby pumpkins… the first family (we think) died from heat stroke! 

Sorry the lightening is off…but it was the only time of day I was able to get out with the cam (D-40) .

Green Bell Peppers… our bells are lovin’ us of this year…they dig there home (raised bed).

What’s up doc? sorry! can’t help myself!

The kale is doing better BUTl… I think the bugs have invaded it…

some kind of black bug…worm maybe?! I’m doing my best to keep them alive tho!

Damn pests.

baby jalapeno pepper… mmm, spice! Love me some spice!

My pepper pot is going to make it after all. yay!

Mmm!  Tomato’s …

Still nursing these guys too (our zucchini) is struggling this year. The plants will bear fruit but die off…

we’ve fertilized, watered and lovingly cared for them. There is a baby zuke in there 2 actually…

and the other plants have a couple also… *fingers crossed*

This week we harvested 2 strawberries, 4 jalapenos, 4 carrots & 2 heads of cabbage!

so much fun to garden with the tots! They love gettin’ dirty and diggen’ things up, that’s for sure.

Our rooster…. formerly Lois but now named Louie.. how appropriate!

Funny how things,  happen, huh?!

CSA CRATE CONTENTS:

* bell peppers

* carrots

* 2  kinds of plums red/green

* cantaloupe

* summer squash

* butterhead lettuce

* red leaf lettuce (lettuces not pictured…put em’ away before I snapped a shot!)

* garlic chives

* tomatoes

* potatoes

* onions

* green beans approx 2 1/2 lbs!

Roma and Beef steak tomatoes! juicy and sweet! did I hear someone say salsa?

Love packin’ away organic fruits, veggies and herbs in my wonder thunder produce bags.

Makes my heart leap…

btw, these bags are organic and  printed with safe water-based inks! YES!!!

I have lot’s of plans for this haul of produce… mainly to get it into my belly…

but you know what I mean, err, well, I hope, anyway! LOL!  Lot’s of menu ideas! hee, hee!!

Support your local farmer!  Join a CSA today or find a farmer’s market near you!

P.S.

you might have wondered why my site was acting wonky by displaying old posts on the main page…it won’t be doing that anymore, thanks to @dawniemom!

Enjoy your Sunday!

CSA Loot & Farmer’s Market Goods!

Hola!

How is everyone, today? Hope you’re doing well. Just finished a green juice here and ready to get into action (prepping ahead for tomorrow). Going to head out to the garden and do a little happy dance and thank the stars for all the green wonder and delight.  Love summer.

Love to support LOCAL farmers.

woo-hoo!

CSA CRATE LOOOT:

Swiss Chard & Dino Kale

Carrots, Beets, Stone Fruit (peaches, nectarines, plums), Bell Peppers, Tomatoes

Zukes, Cucumbers, Summer Squash

marjoram

Refused plastic and brought my new produce bags!

Strawberries & Spinach …

Love to marry the two and eat it right up … farmer’s market fresh!

More summer squash and  a handful of apricots!

I meant to pick up lavendar but completely forget – wah!!

& the organic farmer I normally get my kale from was not there!

Farmers Market + CSA Crate = one happy mama.

Not having to step foot into a grocery store makes this experience pretty damn liberating.

AND one that note, I’m off to make to make a flag cake - gluten free/healthier version…and it’s my first attempt…

wish me luck!

Can’t wait to celebrate the 4th of July!

Late {Meatless Monday} Not Tuna Wraps & Farmer’s Market Goods!

Hola peeps!

Happy Tuesday to you. Hope you had a great weekend.
We actually had the opportunity of visiting an organic farm 40 minutes north of us in a town called Tehachapi. We were able to score some really fresh Cal Organic produce and a pound of grassfed ground meat. I’ve been doing a lot of research on farms in our area and as well as CSA’s. I like to know what’s available to us with 100 miles. The more I look around and we visit these places the more connected we feel to eating locally and seasonally. The really cool benefit is being able to talk to the person who grows your food and get ideas on how to cook it, store it etc. It’s been a great experience for us and I think having the boys along to see where their food comes is good too.

On Sunday the hub took us down to the Hollywood Farmer’s Market (our CSA signup will not begin until March). We’ve heard such great things about it we decided we needed to check it out for ourselves. We figured it would be easier to take our Kelty for the eco tot and the Ergo for Baby C since their isn’t much walking space along the booths. It turned out to be a great trip and we came home with some fresh farmer’s market produce.  I was looking for homemade kombacha but found none. We did come across a booth that sold earthworms and other types of “good” worms for your garden. We chatted with the guy for a bit and he told us what type of worms we needed to combat our grub worms. So, when we’re ready to turn over the garden soil I think we’ll get some “good” worms.

Here’s my {Meatless Monday} feature:

I made a raw tuna salad last Monday and it was yummy!

The hubster totally thought this pate tasted like tuna… it’s a great “fool” recipe.

We had it with crudites and also tried the not so tuna salad pate with nori rolls.

It was a little messy because we dampened the rolls a little much (oopsie) but overall it was good and very filling.

We added in extra avocado and some of our homemade pickles! yummers.

cell phone pic- sorry, nikon battery died!

What meatless meals have you made in the kitchen lately?

{Meatless Monday} Roasting Veggies

Hey guys!

Hope you had a lovely V-day filled with lots of LOVE!!

The weather here was absolutely gorgeous. Perfect planting and play outdoors weather. We rode our bikes both days and had a blast. I love riding my bike up to the local shops in town. Both days we had “no waste” experiences I plan to post more deets on my adventures this week (hopefully, tomorrow).  We planted spinach and some starter lettuce that the hub bought at the garden store. We also noticed there are sprouts in our raised bed!!!! Super excited for our garden plans this year.

Our tomatoes starters for the greenhouse are still doing really well also. Hopefully, come spring time we’ll have a functional greenhouse operation. We also took a trip down to our farmer’s market which about 45 minutes away to stock up on some local goodness.

Part of my V-day gift was finally getting signed up with our CSA! Woohoo! It’s been 2yrs. since we learned about our local CSA and to be honest, we shouldn’t have waited so long (having funds withdrawn out of our acct. wkly.was a scary leap for us to take). But, since we recently found out about the farmer’s market and make weekly trips we’ve realized what were doing things all wrong.

So, I’m really looking forward to fresh organic goodness on the weekly and farmer’s market and Whole Foods on the monthly! I also recently found out about another local farm that sells fresh herbs, fruits and veggies in season. I’m hoping to get in contact with them soon for some fresh nettles, chia seeds and other misc. You can find out about local farms and farmer’s markets in your area by visiting localharvest.org!

These days it’s all about the quick and easy AND lasts nights din-din was simple and yummy. We’ve been enjoying roasted veggies lately so last night the hubby made a roasted veggie mix which included farmer’s market produce- butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and brussel sprouts. It’s really easy to do and very satisfying. This meal was inspired by the Pure2Raw Twins… we even had homemade sauerkraut for it but the latest batch we made has a really “dirty” taste. Making a new batch tonight.  We’ve added their One Pot Gluten Free Vegan Mac & Cheese to our menu…can’t wait to try it!

Roasted Veggies

All you have to do is cut up the veggie of choice; drizzle EVOO or other flavored oil like sesame, coconut, etc. over them, sprinkle on some S&P, add in some fresh or dried herbs of your choice and lay out onto sheet pan. You’ll be rockin’ a quick and easy meal within 20-30 minutes!

Plus, if you serve it up with a grain like quinoa which cooks quickly then it becomes a super simple meal. Don’t forget to serve it up with a yummy green salad to make it an even more filling.

2 weeks ago, I made a Marinated Mushrooms and Cauliflower Mash recipe from Susan at Rawmazing! We really enjoyed it.  Since then we’ve been dehydrating cauliflower and broccoli also. Yummy! Tonight we are having nori rolls stuffed with a “Not Tuna” pate!! I’ll let you know how those are in an upcoming post.

Sorry for the picture quality!

Quick Snacks

We’ve been making kale chips around like there’s no tomorrow. I have a batch in the dehydrator as I type this using some dino kale from the farmer’s market. Mmmm! The boys love, love, kale chips  and so does the hubbers. For real. I made a batch the other night and all 3 of em’ ate them up entirely. I think I only had 2 -3 chips out of the whole batch. I was actually pretty happy about it, believe it or not. They are so yummy and make a quick and easy snack. We’ve also served them alongside a meal. They’re that GOOD. Believe.

We also made a little Raw Vegan fudge last night for dessert. We adapted a recipe from several online ones and just did a little bit of this and that. Mainly dates, cacao powder & butter, maca, coconut oil, unsweetened coconut shreds, & hemp seeds all blended in the food processor! It was perfectly sweet and tasted just like fudge. Had some for breakfast this AM.

Hope you enjoyed this highlight of what’s been going on in kitchen for Meatless Monday’s …

start roasting your veggies & getting your cacao fix!

What are you fixing tonight for Meatless Monday?

Do tell. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Our trip to the Ananda Marga Organic Peach Farm

On Sunday, the hub Baby C and I drove out to the Ananda Marga Organic Farm in Lake Hughes, Ca. Which is not a far drive from our home whatsoever! The Ananda Marga Organic Farm was part of our local farmer’s market. Last weekend was the final market until next June.

I really liked the opportunity of having fresh locally grown produce at my disposal on Saturday mornings. This was the first year our town did anything like this and I thought it was successful. It was nice chatting with the farmer’s and their wives and getting to know the person who is growing the very food on your plate. It’s actually quite interesting to have a conversation with some of farmers. Especially, the ones who are growing their produce organically.

I’m sad the market was over but happy  I was able to meet and greet the local farmers each Saturday! After doing my normal chitchatting I found out the Ananda Marga Farm is open year round to visitors. I had no idea! Finding this out made my entire year. I’ve known about the farm for quite some time but did not know you could buy produce from them directly. I thought you had to be part of the CSA.

Which was definitely one of our goals this year- to get on board with Community Supported Agriculture through Abundant Harvest Organics. I’m still working on it though and visiting the Ananda Marga Farm has given me some inspiration to get something started ASAP. I haven’t really found anyone receptive enough to take on half of the load with us- but still working to find others interested in sharing a box. Keep your fingers crossed for us because it’s the next best thing to growing your own!

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