Amish friends

So I realize that a month has passed since I dangled that juicy little tidbit about our 'amish friends'. Well, the time has come for the whole fun story.

It starts with Loni wanting to dabble in the world of Community Shared Agriculture (see more on CSA here.) But once upon a time all the CSA boxes she could find cost more than she wanted to spend. Then one Saturday morning, Loni and Co. were wandering around the farmers market (one of Loni's most favorite hangouts) and there she found a golden sign and heard angels singing. Ok, no angels, but there was a handwritten sign on yellow paper that read "Ask about our CSA box." So I did. And the stand/farm owner just happens to be Amish and the CSA boxes they offer just happen to be inexpensive and full of beautiful heritage veggies.

We signed up for a whole year immediately and started getting boxes the first week in August. I love the veggies. We're talking, huge yellow, green, and red heritage tomatoes. Crispy green beans, picked that morning. Delicate little beets with the greens still on them (so yummy just boiled and finished with butter.....beet greens :)......yummmmm) Yukon potatos. Melons that I can't even identify. Brown speckled eggs. Fresh garlic--use with caution--EXTREMELY strong (the pesto we made from this stuff didn't just rock our socks, it blew them straight off and across the room). And most recently? Apples, homemade apple cider and --the very best of all--homemade brown bread and rolls.

All of it is so delicious but the coolest part? We are helping support little families just like ours. Our box comes from 2 farming Amish brothers. The brother we mostly talk to is the father of 6, his youngest was just born the end of August and is truly one of the sweetest people I've ever met. He's sincere and serious with hands stained by hard work and chat sprinkled with old-fashioned sayings. The whole interaction/delicious veggie experience is just delightful. Looking forward each Friday to picking up my CSA box has just made my summer. As it starts to get colder we'll only get our boxes ever 2 weeks but they'll be full of all kinds of root veggies, popcorn, herbs.....I'm so excited.

So the questions on my mind today is 'What will I get in my box?' and 'What kind of yummy things do I get to make this week?'

LOVE IT!