CSA Prep Time: Everything You Need for the Produce Season

These are a few of the things I've found to be quite handy in regard to managing a CSA share:

• A salad spinner, like this one from Bed, Bath & Beyond.
  
• One or two sharp all-purposes knives. I bought mine from Amazon.com and sharpened it for the first time at Sur la Table, but was also tempted to try Sharpening on Site.
• Rectangular plastic storage containers, like these from Ziploc. These are great to store veggies before you get the chance to chop them up.
  
• Wax pencils or scraps of paper & tape to label food storage containers. (Naming & dating is essential to prevent rotting!)
  
• Lots of small storage containers. I often use old yogurt & cottage cheese containers. These fit just about everything once it's chopped, from kale to cucumber.
  
• Non-perishable staples such as olive oil, grains, pastas, dressings, etc. These are nice to have around when you need to whip something up quick (especially if you're worried that it's moments away from going bad.)
  
• How to Cook Everything Vegetarian cookbook by Mark Bittman. Everything you need to know about storing and preparing veggies. Even tells you which parts of the veggie are edible, which is good when working with produce for the first time. Seriously, who looked at the first kohlrabi and thought, "Yup, I'd eat that." I heart this book.
  

Welcome to the 2011 CSA season!

Note: I have switched CSA's this year. I was happy with Sippel Family Farm, but they stopped offering pickup on Saturdays, which was most convenient for my schedule, so I'm trying Wayward Seed Farm. I'll let you know how it goes!

Grow What You Eat: Wooden Planters

Plants need homes. A certain someone who is handy with such things was kind enough to build me two large wooden boxes to give my plants a place to live.

He used scrap wood to build the planters, then I ordered Tung Oil and Citrus Solvent from The Real Milk Paint Company to protect them from weather damage.

I used an old milk carton to mix the two liquids together, then used a very very old Girl Scout t-shirt to spread the oil onto the wooden boxes. Two coats did the trick, though I'm sure three coats wouldn't have hurt.



Once the finish dried, I lined the boxes with part of a plastic drop cloth (found at Home Depot for a couple of bucks) with holes punched in it for drainage. Then I filled them with a couple of bags of potting soil, a layer of compost and voila!

One planter currently houses two tomato plants, a jalapeno pepper plant and a green pepper plant. Next year, I'll split these up into two planters, as the pepper plants are currently being overshadowed by the gargantuan tomato plants.

The other planter houses a row of green bean plants and a row of pea plants. Next year, I'll split these up into two planters as well, as the peas are struggling for some space.

The other containers I've used in the garden are all ones I have collected over the years, including plastic hanging pots, plastic pots of all shapes, sizes and colors as well as a clay strawberry pot.

Happy homes make happy plants!

Grow What You Eat: Strawberries

In case I haven't mentioned it (because I certainly haven't stopped strangers on the street to tell them, certainly not), I've started a container garden. I want to grow more of what I eat. I already try to eat local and organic or both. When that fails, I try to go for less packaging or waste. But truly, there are very few foods that meet all of these criteria at one time.

Growing food in my own backyard really is as green as it can get.

So...strawberries. Everything I read about strawberries said that the plants don't produce strawberries in the first year, but that you can grow them in containers. This is confusing. How do I "winter" the plant so that it doesn't die in the cold weather in order to reap the rewards the second year? No gardening book could answer this question for me. So I decided not to grow strawberries.

And then...I went to Home Depot to pick up some trellis fixings for my bean and pea plants. The strawberry plants were right there. So inviting. So friendly. My pure and unadulterated excitement that spring was finally here won the better of me and I grabbed two strawberry plants on a whim and ran. (I mean, I paid for them and everything, but still.) I think I spent $4 per pot.



The plants I bought were Bonnie Plants' Quinault variety. Part of what sold me was their pots. Instead of the usual plastic pots that immediately go to the landfill, their pots are biodegradable! I actually tore them into little pieces and added them to the composter just as I would with cardboard or paper.

And in case you missed it (here's a larger view of my little strawberry baby), I have one bright, plump red strawberry growing on the vine, with more to come! What was this about strawberry plants not bearing fruit the first year?

What I'll do differently next year: I'll be sure to buy enough plants to fill all of the holes in the strawberry pot, instead of just two. I'll also buy a PVC pipe, drill holes in the sides of the pipe and insert it into the middle of the pot before adding soil in order to aid in watering.

Note: Bought strawberry plants: May 4. First red strawberry ready for picking: June 23.

Update: Poor baby strawberries met their maker. Not sure what creature got to them, but I hope the rest of them don't have this fate in store!



Update #2: As of the end of August, the strawberry plants produced small strawberries two more times, though they were never harvested because they were either too measly or too mangled. Maybe they will do much better the second year, after all!