Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Green house, veggies and they had me at tomato

- Visiting an organic farm - a peaceful moment in a busy day. A friend misunderstands me when I make a remark about the green house. "Where's the greenhouse?" Not that kind of greenhouse, but a house that is painted a vivid color green.

- The very nice owner points to lettuce growing and to raised beds of spinach nearby. He loves to make a spinach cheese soup and his description makes us all want to run home to make it.

- Another visitor snaps photos of beautiful red poppies growing amid herbs and other flowers. They make CSA boxes that require only a week to week commitment and you get whatever is in season that week, with the promise of tomatoes to come. I tell him I want to start with a small box, having been reeled in with the mention of the tomatoes.

This visit preceded my suburban book club's discussion of Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal Vegetable Miracle" - an account of her family's vow to buy only food raised in their neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it.

14 comments:

happygirl said...

The only reason I joined our CSA was for the heirloom tomatoes. I discovered a bounty of other veggies in my box and developed veg love. All our meals are planned around the box.

TALON said...

So lovely! And the "green" house seems perfect for the location!

Sounds like you're in for boxes of pure veggie delight, Lynn!

Sparkling Red said...

The farm is lovely. Makes me want to ditch the city and grow green things all day long.

I love Barbara Kingsolver! I would read anything she's written. I didn't know she'd done any non-fiction. Thanks for the tip.

Maude Lynn said...

What a lovely place!

Sara said...

Lynn,

Okay. I am so dumb, but I will dare to wear it well. What's a CSA box? Is it like an allotment in the UK where you're given a space to grow vegies?

Whatever, I enjoyed your trip to garden and like the part about the "green house." That made me smile.

Only one time I remember having a real garden,it didn't work too well. The rabbits got most of the vegies:~) We managed to salvage a few cucumbers and I will say that a homegrown cucumber is ten times better than a store bought one.

Good luck with your tomatoes:`)

Riot Kitty said...

Now I want a salad. Nom! And a lime green house.

Louvregirl said...

I like that green house!

Lynn said...

happygirl -

I have wanted to do that for a long time, but it usually meant that I had to split a box with someone (adding one more thing to do in a busy week) and they required some sort of contract or commitment. So he said I can get a small box and the best reason to get the box at all is that the tomatoes are reserved for the CSA customers.

Talon -

Yes - I liked that really green house, too. :)

Sparkling Red -

I know - I was thinking what a peaceful life that guy has.

Mama Zen -

Very green. :)

Sara -

CSA stands for "Community-supported agriculture", a form of an alternative food network. A CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farming operation where the growers and consumers share the risks and benefits of food production. CSAs usually consist of a system of weekly delivery or pick-up of vegetables and fruit.

This guy doesn't have fruit in a big way, except for raspberries. I love the idea of supporting his farm - he lives off of that and a wedding photography business.

Riot Kitty -

lol - I want a lime green house, too. :)

lg -

Me, too. :)

Granny Annie said...

I miss having a garden. This will be the second year we have been unable to even plant tomatoes. At least we'll always have fresh eggs since our chickens can fairly well fend for themselves if push comes to shove.

Jannie Funster said...

What a paradisical-looking place! So many wonderful things and people in this world, so much caring and love of land. Inspiring to see!!

Awesome about your CSA box! Patricia from Patricia's Wisdom is big into one of those local cooperatives, and loves it.

Fun. Beautiful.

xoxoo

Snaggle Tooth said...

Ah, so much wonderful, organic green! I could live on spinach- love it. Wish I had one of those to join. MB once did that n had more greens than they could ever consume, so I got some... on one of her few visits. Tastes alot better than the store kind too!
Sounds like an interesting (book) way to live- tough in urban places or bad farming weather conditions.
Now I'm hungry again...

desk49 said...

green is not green
this one you
can't see through
soup for the day
and photos snapped away

Lynn said...

Granny Annie -

I'll bet those eggs are lovely to have though!

Jannie -

I like that word paradisical!

xo

Snaggle -

This guy was quick to say that he is not certified organic - the certification process takes a lot of time and money. I just trust that he is and call it a day. :)

Ellis -

Love that green! Thank you for my poem. :)

... Paige said...

looks great!