The winter CSA

So this is my first year with a winter CSA share. Its exciting to have a steady flow of veggies through the winter, but I am a little concerned about the variety, or lack there of. I've heard lots of complaints from those in last year's winter share that there was just too much of too few a variety, and lots of heavy roots can get tiresome. I have to admit, though, I love the heavy, savory root veggies of the winter and I look forward to the challenge of finding new ways to use them. For me, soup is always a "go to" option to incorporate just about anything all year round, but in winter I especially enjoy a bowl of warming and hearty soup with a little crusty bread on the side. I really enjoyed incorporating sweet potatoes into this classic black bean soup recipe; it gave the soup a nice contrast to the black beans - with the sweet and toothsome potato cubes - while adding a nice splash of color in an otherwise gloomy looking soup. To do this just add peeled, cubed cooked sweet potatoes, from one or two sweet potatoes, to your favorite black bean soup recipe. If you can, boil the potatoes in the stock you are using before adding the beans, it will add even more flavor to the soup. Take half of the solids out (in this case it was onions, beans and the sweet potatoes) and puree the soup directly in the pot with an immersion blender, then return the solids to the pot and season with salt and pepper and bring back to a simmer.

NYT article: Regional food in VT

OK, so I have a little bit of an obsession with Vermont. I perhaps overly romanticize the New England ruggedness of the culture there, and maybe I'm just a sucker for the landscape, but here is a new thing for local food lovers to love - for real. It appears that there is a food renaissance taking place in VT, and these shining star restaurants feature local foods on the menu at their backwater venues. Its exciting to see that this movement can contribute to reviving (or creating) culinary culture in place both struggling with the depressed economy (I know we all are, but...) and not otherwise known for find cuisine. Read more about it here.

NYT article: Returning to the (small) farm

It seems like the interest in turning long suburbanized landscapes into productive landscapes continues to grow. Even out in Rockland county, which seemed very sub/ex urban on my last visit to Bear Mountain, seems to be rediscovering the value of small scale growing. This is more than just the continued interest in gardening, but growing for sale in places that have long since left their farming tradition behind in favor of luxury living outside of the city. It is really encouraging to see the activities described in this article. I feel like this movement comes from a good place; a place of awakening to the need to connect to our own production, to participate in fulfilling our communities needs without turning to the common convenience of industry to fulfill them like we have so much for the last several decades. I hope that this movement continues, and does not fizzle out like the previous "back to the land" movements of the 1960's. I guess time will tell... in the mean time, keep growing!