The Great Utah CSA Experiment 2009 - Weeks 8 & 9!

Well this year has not been as smooth as last, and I fear that East Farms has not had fair treatment from me in terms of consistent reporting. Not only did I have estimate numbers for week 6 instead of an exact analysis, but I completely lost the listing for week 8 and haven't been able to find it anywhere! I keep putting off posting, hoping it will turn up, but now after several thorough house-cleanings I think I'm out of luck. The weekly newsletter indicates that I probably got green beans, beets, green onions and corn, and I think there were potatoes as well. If I find it later I will come back and post it , but other than that all I can say is I know it was good food because it disappeared quickly.

Not only have I been lax in keeping track of my shares, but I've also struggled to pick them up. When I registered, I was working Monday and Wednesday evenings, so I thought a Tuesday pickup would be trivial. Of course, when the pickups started so did my schedule - to Tuesday Thursday evenings! I have had to pick up three of my shares a day late - on Wednesday morning, and twice I've been lax in processing them, leaving them on the counter for days! (This has changed though, so we're good for the rest of the season).

I know it's bad treatment for fresh produce but I've been overwhelmed - if it isn't work, it's home remodeling (mine or my sister's) to be done, or it's food processing for preservation (how else am I going to survive another winter?) or it's family obligations. In some cases, even when I did post, I forgot to add pertinent information, for instance: that the zucchini was a special variety (globe-shaped, with grayish green skin) instead of the standard green tubes. Probably due to the poor treatment, some of the food has started to spoil earlier - the cucumbers particularly, though I've had some bad potatoes (how that happend I can't say, except that apparently I did a bad thing by storing them next to onions). The point being, if East Farms looks bad this year, it's my fault, not theirs.

Anyways, enough with the excuses. I do actually have numbers here for the rest of it, so here we go! Numbers are from the local Dick's Market, and they were taken the same week the produce arrived.

CSA Week 9:

CSA SHARE					Price	Value
1.81 lb cucumbers (5!)					0.79/ea	$3.95
1 lb carrots					0.79/lb	$0.79
0.69 lb green onions					2.36/lb	$1.63
1.88 lb large beets					1.29/lb	$2.43
1.75 lb golden potatoes					5.32/lb (red)	$9.31
5 lbs corn (7 ears)					3/$1.00	$2.33

5 Cucumbers! I've taken to slicing them up and putting them in a vinegar/water bath in the refrigerator, then I can snack on them at my leisure. I did have a few go bad, but I've been slow to get to them. The beets were amazing. I finally nailed a cool evening where I didn't feel bad running the gas oven and roasted them - only to find a surprise in my large beets - they were Chioggias! They have a gorgeous candy-striped center. You can see from the picture how they compare to the intense color of the little ones, and the yellow from the potatoes. The corn I've been sharing, and grilling for personal use. Because I have a hard time justifying running the grill for 2 ears, I do 4 at a time then save the rest for leftovers. They're great!