Fresh from the Farm

Just in the nick of time last week, I signed up for a Charleston-area community supported agriculture (CSA) program. We pay a fee here at the beginning of the spring harvest season, and we get a box of fresh-from-the-farm produce every week. There's even a drop-off/pickup spot here in North Charleston.

Last Thursday was our first day, and we're still eating on the produce from our box. We've been eating on the delicious lettuce all weekend, and I used an onion tonight in my main dish for dinner. We're trying the beets, though I've never cooked fresh beets before. I found a great recipe on the CSA Web site, so I'm hoping it'll be good.

I like the idea of helping a local farmer, especially having grown up on a farm myself. And, I like the idea of introducing my family to new veggies and testing my cooking skills on different veggies that I've never tried to cook before.

UPDATE: The beets turned out just fine, though they were small for all the effort. Then I got an email today from the CSA that informed me they're "baby beets." I assume they're supposed to be small, but they were delicious.

Mr. Morgan had never had beets before that he could remember, and I don't think Claire had either. We gave her one to try at the beginning of dinner, and halfway through we heard, "More beets please."

In Claire's typical, out-of-the-blue fashion, she asked in the middle of dinner, "Where do dyes come from?" I let Mr. Morgan answer that question, which included that "people back in the day" used things like beets to dye. Claire's response, "That's what I thought."