Citrus

Bulk / Citrus / Farmers markets / Meat / Preserving+canning — 7 Comments
17
Jan 10

Eating locally in winter: It’s just not that hard. In fact, it’s possibly easier than eating locally in spring and early summer

photo1

Kristi went to the Winter Farmer’s Market in Wayland yesterday. This is what it looks like there, in mid-January. An abundance of food, not just of the root variety, but fresh and green and vibrant, as well.

Sometimes in the spring and early summer, when the markets start up and the CSA starts rolling in, I experience this guilty sensation. I want to just dive into full-on local eating, but you can’t really eat greens, garlic scapes and strawberries for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s just not enough calories.

The nice thing about the deep winter is that you can count some serious local calories to be the backbone of a meal. Like potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squashes, beets, turnips, kohlrabi. Then fresh and green things are welcome additions.

So I have a bone to pick with consumers and with farmers/infrastructure builders. Consumers: it is not difficult to buy 50lbs of potatoes (for example) and tuck them away in a reasonably potato-friendly spot in your home. Farmers/People with Resources and Power: It would be even better if YOU invested in root cellars and stored the food for us. Then we could be sure that our carrots and onions were well preserved. And we could get our asses out to you, or you could get our turnips to us here in the city. [Mental blip: Perhaps we need municipal root cellars.]

Last bit of this for everyone: It’s not hard to eat locally and well in the winter. With events like the Wayland Farmer’s Market, it doesn’t even require the advance planning or upfront capital of a winter CSA.

Citrus / Fruit — 5 Comments
7
Dec 09

When it’s OK to eat citrus

east-coast

Around this time last year we excitedly told you about new winter CSAs from Enterprise Farm and Heaven’s Harvest that were built around relationships with growers along the Atlantic Coast. To share resources, to diversify the work of sustainable farming and to give us access to fresh fruit and veggies during the deep freeze — fruit and veggies from a bit closer to our part of the world, not just California and South America.

Though we’re still trying to wrap our brains around the implications of some of this travel, and how wrong it felt to eat lettuce all through the New England winter, there’s a lot to get behind with this model. Most especially when this collaboration gives us access to citrus. Like, the real thing. Citrus like we have never had before in any supermarket in Massachusetts.
Cause this stuff is ripened on the tree, then picked, then delivered within days. The rubbery stuff you can get in the produce department: that was picked weeks early and gassed in some musty backroom of a grocery store, until it has the appearance of ripe fruit.

*Even if you are not a CSA member* you can order a box of this fruit from Heaven’s Harvest — starting now. Here are the details that just arrived in our inbox.

Organic Citrus from Eagles Nest Organic Grove in North Florida. All products will be delivered the week of December 21. All orders that include organic citrus must be made by 10 a.m. on Dec. 14. Please address all inquiries and orders to Heavensharvestfarm@yahoo.com or call 508.867.9577 for questions or clarifications if needed. Payment should be mailed at the time of your order as we need to pre-pay for all products.

You can get: Satsuma Clementines, Sunburst Tangerines, Hanlin Juice & Fresh eating oranges, Carce-carer (red) Navels, Navels, MacIntosh Apples, Red Delicious Apples, Yellow Delicious Apples… in the following (confusing) arrangements–

Full boxes of any citrus $68 (40lbs)
Half boxes of any citrus $38 (20lbs)
Full box of any apple $40
Half box of any apple $25
2 way citrus mix Full Box $72
3 way citrus mix Full box $75
4 way citrus mix Full box $78
2 way citrus mix Half box $40
3 way citrus mix Half box $42
2 way citrus/apple Full box $65
3 way citrus/apple Full box $68
2 way citrus/apple Half box $38
All 3 apples Full box $45
Any 2 apples Full box $45
All 3 apples Half box $30
Any 2 apples Half box $28

The apples are from Honey Bee Orchards in West Brookfield. And they’re also selling maple syrup from Maine in pints ($13) and quarts ($25). And raw milk cheese from New Hampshire.

Piermont 1lb $16
Toma 1lb $16
Gruyere 1lb $18
Manch Veges 1lb $18