Mystery Vegetable

We got a mystery vegetable in our box from the CSA today.  Just for fun, to see if people could guess.  They did it last year too and said they had some pretty interesting guesses.  As soon as I cut into it I knew almost certainly what it was, though not the name of the variety.  Then I cheated and googled it.  Do you know what it is?

CSA Saturdays - Summertime!

No, I have NOT forgotten I recently started this blog!  What I need to do is start writing my ideas down, because usually by the time I have a moment to write a post, I can't think of anything.  Which is just crazy when you consider the fact that I have two little boys that are constantly making me rip my hair out by the roots laugh! I'll try to be better - honest!

We're really starting to get some variety in our box of veggies from the CSA now.  Last week we got a handful of peas and green beans, in addition to our lettuce, kale, and rhubarb.  Neither lasted long - we ate the peas raw and in the pod - so crisp and sweet!  The beans were just enough for one meal for us. This week though I got really excited (YES I get excited about vegetables these days!) when Danny from the farm went through the box with me - A few heads of lettuce, kale, beats, swiss chard, zucchini, yellow squash, basil, and parsley! I was a little relieved to see that there wasn't any rhubarb in there.  I like rhubarb, but hubby doesn't. The boys eat it when it's disguised in something like the rhubarb bread I recently made.  That was delicious, but it is full of brown sugar to offset the tartness of the rhubarb.  Swiss chard is another new one for me, like the kale was.  But seeing as Crispy Kale (minus the chili flakes) is now on my list of favorite munchies, I'm sure I'll be just as pleased with Swiss Chard. The basil is nice to see - I am growing some, but I nearly let it fry in the dry, hot sun this week, plus some sort of bug seems to be quite enamored with it since many of the leaves look like green lace.  Of course there are about a million things we can do with the squash.    There will surely be some good eats in our house this week!

We're trying to keep busy and enjoy the summer.  The boys and some friends had a blast this week at the splash pad in a park in a nearby town.  I finally got them this water table and they LOVE it!  Though LW seems to think it is a mini swimming pool, and has taken to standing, sitting and yes laying down on it.  While shouting "swimming".  Sigh..that boy!!  We've gone on some walks to explore the river that flows by the end of our street.  And JT was thrilled when Daddy took him to the beach and they saw where that river empties into the Atlantic Ocean.  Next weekend we're going to go take a ride on Thomas the Train.  LW is loves trains, so he'll be over the moon I'm sure.  I got my hair chopped off today - I need to have JC take a picture so I can update my profile.  We went to dinner tonight, and the boys got to meet and touch Larry the Lobster.  Luckily JC and I don't care for lobster, so we did not have to deal with any trauma had it been served moments later.  Someone at a neighboring table did get some, so we had to answer a few questions about why he was eating Larry's friend.  When we're not out and about, the boys like to play outside in the yard, and explore the little stream (or is it a brook?  I don't know the difference!) that flows along our property.  So I've been doing lots of laundry!  LW went through three outfits today (thanks in part to "swimming" in the water table).  We're not having the rain we had last summer, so there's plenty of outside time to be had.  There's also lots of garden watering to be done!

JT has requested that we all walk down to the river tomorrow, so he can show my some paths he discovered with Daddy.  Should be a nice way to spend Independence Day.  Except that it's supposed to get into the 90's, and I'm not a fan of heat.  But we'll still enjoy it I'm sure.  Happy Birthday America!!

CSA Saturdays

This is our produce box from our CSA this week (our second).  As you can see, we'll be getting our fill of leafy, green vegetables.  The contents are: 1 package of Romaine hearts, 1 head of red leaf lettuce, 1 head of Boston bibb lettuce, 1 head of iceburg lettuce, 1 bunch of Kale, and 20 stalks of rhubarb.  I've never cooked Kale before, but I know I'll find something to do with it! We've also gotten a gift certificate to the greenhouse both weeks, because the boxes have been kind of "light".  Once we start getting more variety, and fuller boxes, those will stop.  We may start getting zucchini next week.  Woohoo! In the meantime, I'll be getting more creative with our salads, and finding every rhubarb recipe known to man!