Woohoo!  The CSA season is officially a GO!

Tonight I picked up my first share as a member of the Maple Creek Farm CSA in Yale, MI.  I feel extremely lucky because my pick-up location is just minutes from my house and very easy to find.  Not to mention the pick-up hosts were very gracious in helping me understand the process of my first pick up!  It’s actually very simple… check your name off the list for that date, bag the produce in one of the boxes (bringing along a tote bag is encouraged so that the farm can reuse the boxes),  break down and fold the box leaving it in a pile with the others and voila… you’re ready to go home and enjoy your bounty!

Isn’t my bounty beautiful?  What you see in the photo is a quart of strawberries, a bunch of garlic scapes and lettuce… I originally thought this was two giant heads of lettuce but it was actually, I think, five heads of three (?) different varieties (green, red and an unidentified type).  All organic and beautiful!

Our cupboards are a bit bare at the moment, seeing as how we’ll be camping soon, but I managed to scrounge together a delicious meal tonight using some odd items I did have on hand.  I put together salads using the organic lettuce, some chopped apples, pine nuts, raisins, honey-roasted almonds and pan-fried tofu.  As a side, I fried up some onion, smashed baked potatoes and great northern beans.

I actually really enjoyed cooking tonight.  It’s been awhile since I’ve felt this inspired to cook.  I’ve been in a rut, per se.  But something about the excitement of receiving my first batch of locally-grown organic food… something about washing the dirt from the lettuce, knowing that only hours ago it was picked from a farm in my state for me to enjoy.  There was something very satisfying about that.

From what I hear, today’s share was pretty small by most standards.  Produce from the farm is reportedly running a few weeks behind due to the cool weather we’ve had here in Michigan.  The pace of the harvest should pick up as the weeks progress.  And I cannot wait to continue this adventure!