C.S.A. Week 4

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Thunder had started in the distance last week as I packed up at the Earle Farm CSA drop. Homer in his older age has developed the not unusual, but what I disappointingly deem neurotic, fear of thunderstorms and was whining and drooling under the folding tables. I’m afraid I caused him this anxiety as I also get nervous in storms, stemming from an old high school job working at a horse barn. The bus used to drop me off at the stable where it was my responsibility to bring the 50 or so horses in from their daytime paddocks into their stalls. Many of the paddocks were way up on a hill and often in the summer, thunderstorms would roll in over the hill and I would rush to get them all in, disrupting the ideal order of bring-ins that I had developed based on the behavior quirks of each horse. Nothing terrible ever came of the storms, but the combination of naughty horses, electric fences, wind, and thunder has left a residual unsettledness that still creeps up in me during big storms.

As we made our way south on Rt. 160 with Homer breathing extra heavily from the backseat onto my neck, huge arcs of lightning streaked across the sky. Shortly after entering Cornish the tops of the trees went from still to wild. When I arrived home, I was relieved to see the greenhouse sides rolled closed and the electric fence unhooked to prevent a strike from traveling the line back up into the charger. Homer flew inside and went to breathe closely on Kyle and Joni who were both happily sitting on our screened porch watching the storm. Joni’s excitement over the storm was clear, pointing at the trees bending heavily in the now wild wind, and talking about the bangs and flash of thunder and lightning. I asked her if she was scared, and she said no. I told her Homer, and I were a little scared, and she digested this and went back to watching.

The storm passed, thankfully bringing with the wild winds some much needed rain. For the rest of the week Joni talked about the storm a lot. How it “came over the trees, made big bangs, and then went away from us”. A milder storm blew through Thursday, and we watched the dark clouds roll in from the raspberry patch, and I tried to be excited about them with Joni, relived that so far, my residual dislike has only transferred itself to Homer.


In the share:

  • Beets

  • Carrots

  • Broccoli or Cauliflower

  • Sungold Tomatoes

  • Parsley

  • Green Beans

  • Summer Squash/Zucchini


A note about recipes: While the recipes I post make for amazing dishes, I encourage you all to try all of this week’s items raw or lightly sauteed over some greens. This time of year is one I look forward to in the cold months of winter after we’ve been eating storage food for what feels like forever, and I dream of fresh salad topped with sweet summer carrots. snap beans, and candy-like tomatoes. The summer squash can take a very light sauté and then be added right on top. Cook up a couple of eggs, add cheese, and you’ll be eating our almost nightly meal.

GARLIC ROATED GREEN BEANS

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1-1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed

  • 1 cup thinly sliced onion

  • 12 garlic cloves, peeled and halved

  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper

  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

  • 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

Directions

  1. Brush a 15x10x1-in. baking pan with the oil. Place the green beans, onion and garlic in a single layer in pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 25-30 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring twice.

  2. Transfer to a serving bowl. Drizzle with vinegar and toss to coat. Sprinkle with pine nuts.