CSA member feature: ari and andrew

Why did you join the Owl's Nest Farm CSA?

We joined because we love to eat homemade, healthy, delicious food. Ari is a vegetarian who loves to cook and Andrew maintains a special diet because of a health condition. We have fairly packed weekends, making it difficult for us to regularly visit the farmers markets in our neighborhoods. The CSA was a great solution because it guaranteed access to local produce every other week. As an added bonus, Spencer is a childhood friend of one of Andrew's roommates, so we were excited to support friends and their new business.

What was your favorite fruit, veggie, and/or herb from the CSA this year?

We loved everything, so it's hard to narrow down. The abundant tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers, ground cherries, garlic scapes, and pea shoots were always the first to go. The list of our favorites is very long!

Tell us about any new veggies you tried in 2016.

Ground cherries and garlic scapes. Both were a huge hit. Neither of us had tried them before. Andrew ate the ground cherries by the basketful. Ari loved putting garlic scapes in everything - eggs, pasta, and on pizza. A funny memory for us is trying to figure out how to eat the ground cherries. It took a few tries before we discovered that you had to peel off the paper outer shell first.

Please share your favorite recipe(s).

This is almost too hard to answer, because Ari loves to cook. Some of our favorites are Luisa Weiss's tomato basil pasta, Smitten Kitchen's zucchini and ricotta galette, pea shoot riscotto, Ina Garten's watermelon and tomato salad. But, our all-time favorite recipe, which is spectacular with fresh tomatoes, is this buttery tomato sauce.

What tips do you have for folks who might be trying a CSA for the first time?

The CSA took us out of our cooking comfort zone, which was awesome and daunting at the same time. Be open and flexible to trying new recipes. It was a lot of fun to experiment with greens we hadn't tried before (tatsoi being one). We turned to cookbooks, food blogs, and friends for advice about how to prepare things. We also figured out what items would last for a while (the greens) and which items we had to use right away (tomatoes). Having a strategy so food wouldn't go to waste was a learning curve for us, but really encouraged experimenting with new preparations and being creative with new recipes. Or, winging it, Andrew style.

Tell us about your unexpected CSA bonus!

The seedlings! Ari took several herbs and a tomato plant home. On her tiny front porch in Mt. Pleasant, she successfully kept everything alive. It was an unexpected treat to watch the seedlings bloom and produce fruit, and a success story for a decidedly not-green-thumb (what's the opposite of a green thumb?)!

CSA Member Feature: Will and Jen

Why did you join the Owl's Nest Farm CSA? My wife and I have known Spencer and Liz for years, so it was an easy choice!

What was your favorite fruit, veggie, and/or herb from CSA this year? Jen: I really liked the hon tsai tsai (known around our house as “that random spicy Asian green!”). They were fun to try and I’d never had them before. And of course, strawberries, because they’re the best thing ever.

Will: While I loved the mixed sweet peppers and the tomatoes (obviously), I thought the Toyko Bekana salad mix was, like, memorably good – which is definitely a thing I’ve never thought about salad mix before.

Tell us about any new veggies you tried in 2016. Hon tsai tsai, Tokyo Bekana salad greens, hakurei turnips, and most importantly, ground cherries! Will was obsessed with them. Our friends at Lampo Restaurant in Charlottesville loved them, too, and we were excited to see you guys on their menu alongside a local duck breast.

What tips do you have for folks who might be trying a CSA for the first time? Take the few extra minutes to handle and store your veggie thoughtfully and intentionally each week.

The best part of a CSA is the couldn’t-be-fresher flavors from fruits and veggies that you can you enjoy for days or even weeks if handled properly; the worst part is realizing that all your herbs browned or your tomatoes are mealy because you stuffed them in the fridge and forgot about them. Note from your farmer: Lots of great storage info [here]2.

Please share your favorite recipe(s). Okay, so this one is tough. We made a lot of great meals with Owl’s Nest produce in 2016 (like, for example, our wedding dinner), but here’s two of our favorites:

• Strawberry and Arugula Salad with Peppercorn-Crusted Tenderloin
• Pork Belly Banh Mi with Pickled Owls Nest and Spicy Hoisin

That one time farmers Liz and Spencer got dressed up for Will and Jen's wedding. Owl's Nest Farm salad was on the menu!

CSA shares make great holiday gifts!

*by Owl's Nest Market CSA member Denise Graveline

It's winter and it's tough to imagine a full season of fresh, locally produced vegetables and herbs coming your way. But now's the time to subscribe to a community-supported agriculture (CSA) share--not just for yourself, but for these people on your gifting list. You can wait until early 2017 to sign up, but if you want to make your gift recipients happy, sign up someone you love now. These folks are secretly hoping you'll take the hint:

• The chef, or the wannabe chef: What cook--pro or self-proclaimed--wouldn't want a fresh weekly supply of vegetables, including "baby" versions of bok choi or cabbage, and more? The professional chef or the big-time home cook will love learning about different vegetables, and appreciate the local origin.
• The new vegan or vegetarian: Changing your diet's a big deal. Help the new vegan or vegetarian with a regular supply of new opportunities for flavor and variety in that diet. That works even if you just want your diet to include more vegetables. Don't forget to give this gift to the mom or dad with teens who've decided to go veggie or vegan, too.
• The bargain hunting college and beyond crowd: If you love a group of young professionals or college kids trying to stretch a dollar, the gift of fresh vegetables for several months of the year will make you the secret hero of the millennial set...and they can totally get behind the organic practices and locavore focus of a CSA.
• The person worried about food contamination scares: We all should be in this group, but if someone on your gift list wants to know where her food comes from, there's no better option than a CSA share. She can talk to the farmers, visit the farm, and understand just how her vegetables were prepared. No supermarket gift card is offering that.
• The environmentalist: Owl's Nest Farm uses organic practices with its vegetables, flowers, herbs, and fruit--often, something as simple as a row cover prevents damage from insects easier than a pesticide, and with healthier results for you and for the planet. Your share travels less far than the produce in the grocery store, saving on fossil fuels. And what better way to say, "I'm with you on saving the planet?"
• The step-counter: If your giftee just got a Fitbit or other step-counter, CSAs can help them reach their daily step goals. Owl's Nest Farm gives me the option of five pickup locations for the share, as well as the option to shop my share at a nearby farmers' market. I chose to walk to Petworth Community Market--a mile from my house--so that every pickup at the farmers' market means getting in two pleasant miles on Saturday mornings in spring, summer, and fall.
• The soulful teen: The teenager who wants to give back to the community and the planet can get behind a new responsibility, managing a share and learning how to clean, store, and cook the fresh vegetables in the bargain. And she can volunteer at the farm, too.
• The family with kids: Getting kids to eat their vegetables gets easier when you can make a game out of the choices available and new options on the plate. Make the weekly share something the whole family looks forward to.
• The one-stop-shopper: No question, vegetables are the stars at Owl's Nest Farm. But the lush fresh herbs, bouquets of heirloom flowers, and fruits like their spectacular strawberries or fragrant melons round out the share, and make the farm CSA an easy way to cover many bases.
• The grill master: From herbs to put under those charred meats (I love Owl's Nest rosemary and oregano for this purpose), to vegetables to grill for sides, get your grill master's game on with an ever-changing array of vegetable options.
• The pickler and preserver: A CSA share will put the pickler and preserver through their paces throughout the season. From baby cucumbers to green tomato chutney, kimchi, and preserved or pickled peppers, tomatoes, and more, the CSA has you covered.

Not sure how your gift recipient will deal with a big onslaught of vegetables? Owl's Nest offers half shares as well as full shares. Or, offer to split a share with your giftee. You can learn together about the vegetables and compare notes on recipes.

Learn about all the options here, or sign up today.