Can you believe this shade of orange?
Hot chilies!
I love a hand painted sign.
Some of today's haul.Every Thursday afternoon, I take my bags across town to Lindentree Farm. Entering the barn, I cross my name off the list of members of the CSA and take my allotted vegetables for the week. What ever is in abundance in the fields, I take away in my bags. Many are not things I would choose at the grocery store if I even knew what they were, but I take it all and figure out what to do with the lot when I get home. Celeriac was my great discovery this summer. Celery root makes the creamiest of soups.
My favorites this summer have been things on the "free" table. The farmer is very picky and wants his customers to get the best looking produce. The overly ripe tomatoes with occasional black spots and juice oozing out are delicious. I fill my bag until I can barely lift it.
On to the corn stacked in a wooden crate in the corner. I peel back the husk to greet a corn borer, radiant in its green attire. The cardboard sign on the box indicates that this corn is "for soup." But I know different. Chop off the worm and the gnawed brown tip and the corn is the best you will find anywhere. This worm eats well! Local and organic! The worm is my canary in the coal mine. If the corn is good enough for the worm, it is perfect for me. No worm would eat food sprayed with chemicals!
That's it for the free stuff. I take a handful of parsley, some beets, eggplant and hot peppers. There's the kale, so good sautéed with onions and garlic. Carrots and potatoes are looking good. Watermelons, spaghetti squash and pumpkins are fall's bounty. Gone are the lettuce, spinach, raspberries and cherry tomatoes of high summer. Looks like the frost has blackened the zinnias. Mine are still colorful across town.
Wait, what do I see in the green house? Piles of dark green acorn squash that are blackened on one side. Free for the taking! I load my bag to the brim and stagger to my car.
My afternoon is now spoken for. I will spend it peeling, chopping, roasting and freezing all that I have foraged. I will remember the warm sun on a cold day in January when I pull tomatoes, corn and squash from the freezer. I will close my eyes as I take a bite and think of summer...and the worm.
