CSA project: The adventure begins

I've been intrigued by CSAs or Community Supported Agriculture for a while. The way most CSAs work is you pay a monthly fee to a farm or cooperative, usually around $100 to $150 a month and each week you get a box of fresh, seasonal produce. While this sounds like a wonderful idea, there is something daunting about a huge box full of stuff that I need to make use of before another week rolls around and I have to go through the entire process again. Besides it's just my husband and me these days, and we really don't need very much food. After all, it would defeat the entire purpose if I were to toss a large portion of what I get each week.

Then I had an idea. My youngest daughter, who lives just down the road from me, just had her first baby and she and her husband are concerned about eating a diet with lots of fresh, organic vegetables and fruits. We could share the contents of our weekly boxes, and, just maybe enjoy a bonding experience as we work to figure how to manage this new responsibility/challenge/opportunity.

For the next few weeks or months, I'm going to chronicle our adventures as we head to the Farmer & the Cook in Ojai, which not only has a spectacular vegetarian restaurant, but also grows fresh produce in surrounding fields. Steve Sprinkel of the Farmer & the Cook has agreed to participate in the project.

Lindsay and I are planning to get our box, which we will sort through, and create recipes and other creative ways to use our bounty. And if all else fails and there are leftovers despite our best efforts, we'll be contributing it to our local food pantry Project Understanding, along with any of the extra vegetables I'm growing in our backyard.