Searchin' for the meaning of "higher education" in such places as Finland, Oxford, Portugal, South Africa, and Athens, Georgia, USA.
The (mis)adventures of academia, travel, culture, and the best cup of tea.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Local Farm Share: ROOTS!

About 10 miles outside of Athens the 13-acre farm, Roots, is known not only for its organic and sustainable farming techniques, but also for offering community supported agriculture (CSA). You may be asking...what is a CSA? Well, let me tell you, because Charlie and I are CSA devotees. During the Georgia farming season (April-October) community members can purchase a "share" and receive weekly baskets of colorful and delicious fruits and veggies. After my Euro trip, Charlie and I decided to join for the remaining summer months. Every Tuesday from 4-7 p.m. we make a trip to the farm and pick up our "half-share" (feeds 1-2 people and includes 5-10 items). The best part is that we do not know what the weekly cornucopia includes until we visit the farm and see the nicely hand-printed sheet of paper that outlines the number or weight of certain fruits/veggies. All of the fruits/veggies are laid out on tables as we hand pick the appropriate amount. The other day we came home with carrots, tomatoes, corn on the cob, blueberries, Thai basil, eggplants, summer squash, cucumbers, and a pepper. Awesome!

The tag-line for Roots, "Growing the good stuff in Athens, GA since 2006!"

So, while not studying (yep, the girl needs a break) we are coming up with creative ways to eat the ambrosial delights. The other night we made a delicious curry with squash, carrots, pepper, eggplant, and basil. Every week has included some variety of basil, hence we now have fresh pesto chilling in the freezer. Oh, and the veggies also made a special appearance in a spicy Indonesian Laksa dish. Incredible! More to come...

1 comment:

Mama Weimer said...

THe produce looks very edible. For health fanatics this is a great idea. Enjoy!!!!!!! Farmer's Markets are big here in Colorado. I don't know if they are organic.