Monday, February 28, 2011

Year in a Box - Prelude


Our Los Angeles-based family recently joined a CSA.  What's that you ask?  CSA is an acronym for community supported agriculture, which is a great way to affordably buy produce directly from local (and, in our case, organic) farms.  First you need to find a local farmer, sign up and pay for a pre-specified time period, and then pick up your box weekly and enjoy.

Several years ago, right when our kids were born, we joined a CSA while living in the San Diego area, but given work and lack of know how or time, way too many items got thrown away.  I hadn't even heard of vegetables called mizuna or kohlrabi, and I certainly didn't know how to deliciously prepare kabocha squash or kale.

With our kids a little older, and a renewed family commitment to eating healthy and sustainably, we're going to document a "Year in a Box"; i.e. what we receive in our weekly CSA box, what we make with it, and hopefully what we learn along the way.

I love to garden (though do so a tiny, urban space), my husband loves to cook, and all four of us love to eat.  Fortunately, we have raised pretty adventurous eaters.  That said, no seven year old that I know will eat veggies unless they taste good.  We're not looking to 'bury' the contents here, but really explore the food along with our kids.  We hope that we'll all find things that we love along the way.

Stay tuned... our first box arrives on March 12!

To find out about CSAs in your area, check out Local Harvest.

A 'prelude' is a piece of music that precedes a more important movement.