The Great Utah CSA Experiment: Week 1!

I’ve been waiting for this week for months now, and I must say I am excited to report to you the first CSA share from East Farms has arrived: a happy and healthy looking group of salad greens! And no, the baby analogy isn’t a stretch: I’m talking 4 lbs 2 oz of salad greens. Also included in the share was an introductory newsletter going over administrative details, including contact information, a list of what was included in the share, and a tip on how to manage the greens if they become limp or wilted (soak in cold water and put in the fridge, apparently). Among the bunch I received salad lettuce, stir fry greens, bitter salad greens, and radishes.

The exact numbers follow, as well as a best estimate of the value from my closest local grocery store which carries a selection of regular and organic produce. Produce weight measures were taken on an American Family food scale.

CSA SHARE	Price(Organic)	Price ('Normal')	Value
0.75 lb Red and Green Lettuce	2.65/lb		$1.98
1.3 lb Tat Soy		($1.49/lb bok choy)	$1.94
0.88 lb Mizuna	12.75/lb (arugula)		$11.22
1.2 lb Arugula	12.75/lb		$15.30
0.75 lb Radishes		0.69/lb	$0.52

You can see the difficulty in pinning down actual numbers, as for instance, the store doesn’t offer organic radishes, and only one kind of arugula (which was only sold in exclusive prepackaged organic containers at $3.99/5 oz) is present. The tat soy (the stir fry green; pictured at left) could only be best approximated by bok choy and the mizuna (a jagged-edge bitter asian green) can only be approximated by the arugula. But even if you halved the value for mizuna and arugula I would still come out ahead in this game, and that doesn’t count real numbers for organic tat soy. Add to that the knowledge that this produce is all organic, and I’m contributing to the local economy to boot, I feel pretty good about the overall value of this. This: for two people. Which brings us to the next issue: What to do with it?

Well, I first started out by feeling really dumb for purchasing 2 lbs of spinach a few days previously, as well as stocking up on other fruits for our cooler for a long day at Lagoon – expecting to feed 6 people and in the end only serving 2. The spinach didn’t help my plight, but the fruit was useful as a salad tool.

So. We had salads with grapes, chopped apples, and shredded cheddar, and I chopped up a little arugula and mizuna to go with it (a little of these two greens goes a long way). I cooked up the spinach (the large plastic containers they came in have done nicely in storing the other greens received from the CSA – so they were a boon after all!) and ate that with a dinner as well. The radishes I split with my mother. The ones I kept I cleaned up and whittled down before storing them in a plastic Tupperware container in the fridge: here’s a fringe benefit of the CSA I hadn’t anticipated – Craig (my husband) hates radishes, so I never buy them, but I love them myself!

However, after a week of salads (and the spinach that didn’t come with the CSA share) I still have all the tat soy and most of the arugula and mizuna, as well as the radishes. Luckily, they are all still in great condition, even stuffed about in my fridge in the original plastic grocery sacks they came in – probably because they were picked fresh within 24 hours before delivery. With luck, I’ll be able to use them next week. Does anybody else have recipe ideas?

Recipe for Week 1:

----- Fruity Salad-----

3 c. salad greens (lettuce or spinach), torn
1 c. bitter Mediterranean greens, chopped
1 c. green grapes
1 apple, chopped
½ c. chopped ham (optional)
¼ c. shredded cheddar
Raspberry Vinaigrette

Divide the greens between two large dinner plates. Top with grapes, ham, and chopped apple pieces. Drizzle Raspberry Vinaigrette over the salads, and top with the shredded cheddar. Serve immediately. (Serves 2).