Community Supported Agriculture

This spring, one of the items on my to-do list for preparing to move to Boston was to find a CSA. I knew it might be too late once I was back and wanted to make sure it got done. In PEI we joined a veggie box program with a local organic farm and it was great. Crystal Green Farms has a flexible system, where they email you the contents of your box the day before and a list of possible substitutions if you don't want or need everything that's offered. We really liked that eggs were included too. I think the rural community of PEI allows programs like this to be more flexible and less structured, because I was completely overwhelmed the first few times I started looking into signing up for a CSA in Massachusetts. One big issue was that the pickup windows were often short and during weekday hours which would be impossible with my work schedule. There were very few that offered weekend pickups. We used to get our veggie box on Saturday mornings at the farmer's market, which could not have been more convenient because we were there doing shopping for the week already.

I finally decided on Red Fire Farm in Granby, MA. I found them through the Clover Food Lab site. It got off to a rough start, due to delayed opening of the Clover site in Burlington and shortly after the restaurant being shut down as a result of Salmonella! Luckily, I was able to switch to another site which turned out to be much more convenient anyways. One advantage of picking up directly from a RRF site (vs. at Clover Food Lab), is that you have more flexibility with produce. For example, maybe you don't want 8 ears of corn, so you only take 6 and there is extra eggplant to make up for it. At Clover, the boxes were always pre-made. I have photographed quite a bit of the recipes I've made, but these will have to wait for another post. A friend who writes Hugging Trees and Shelling Peas has been much better at updating weekly recipes.

Having a CSA is great, you can save money, save time on grocery shopping, and have fun experimenting with new foods. It's a major motivator to eat healthy as well. Some things to ask yourself when singing up:

How far am I willing to drive to pick up my share each week? I recommend choosing a site within 30 minutes of your home or work.

What day/time will consistently be convenient for me? Some farms are very flexible, and will allow you to change your pickup site if something comes up.

Am I willing to experiment with new produce? Picky eaters beware! You will probably not receive tomatoes every week. There will be a lot of greens in the beginning. RFF has a great resource of recipes to help you figure out what to do with your produce. Like Kale Chips!

Each of these sites allows you to search by zip code to find places in your area. Many farms in the western part of the state offer metro pickups in and around the Boston area. Some farms even offer winter and deep winter shares on a bi weekly basis.

MASSGROWN Map

Local Harvest Map

Farm Fresh Map

Weddings, Reunions, & Birthdays!

Arriving in North America marked the end of summer and the beginning of a hectic travel schedule that lasts until the holidays.  The first stop was home, but only for 2 days to quickly get my stuff together and drive to Maine with my parents.  Next stop Canada!  I decided that a change of scenery in North America wouldn't be too bad and will be living in Summerside, Prince Edward Island until May. (See my last post if this is news.) I had about two weeks to find an apartment and get things set up in PEI and then I was off to Kathryn's wedding in Atlanta for a mini Italia reunion!  The wedding was beautiful, it was at Serenbe, an intentional, sustainable, community outside the city.  All of the weekend events took place within Serenbe, and I can't think of a single thing that could have been improved.  The food was local, organic, and delicious!  Kathryn's ceremony was outside in a small clearing among tall trees and the reception close by under a huge tent.  Luckily, most of the girls were able to make it to the rehearsal dinner too and we even had a day in downtown Atlanta to explore. While in the city we ate at The Terrace, also a farm to table establishment in the Ellis hotel.  The food there was fantastic as well, not to mention the breezy view of the neighborhood.  It's located not far from the Centennial Olympic Park.

The weekend in Atlanta ended quickly.  I'm looking forward to seeing the girls again in February, this time in Boston for Meg's wedding!  I'll be celebrating my birthday that weekend as well so it's likely to be just as hectic.  My Dad's 75th birthday is coming up soon, and I'll have a few weeks at home for the festivities.  Then I'm back in Canada for two weeks, followed by a visit to Kaohsiung for three weeks and then back to Lexington again for Thanksgiving!

3 days of trekking

After staying at Ginger´s for a week I decided to go on a trek. Practically everyone that comes to South America does one at some point so I figured I shouldnt be missing out! I was planning on going to Machu Picchu during my last trip but it didnt happen. (It´s my excuse to keep coming back :) Chris and Sol know a guide that has been highly recommended by a lot of travellers so I decided on a three day, two night, trip to a great fishing spot. And the best part was we were going to take horses there! Horseback riding is one of my favorite actvites and at home it is prohibitivly expensive and you horse is usually retricted to walking, what fun is that? Well, here in Bolivia of course no one is worried about anything so you can basically do whatever you want on your horse! Good for me, bad for the couple that decided to go on the trek as well. Many people fail to realize that if you are not an experienced rider you will probably not enjoy being on a horse for more than an hour or two. Definately not for 6 hours. So, after about an hour they decided to get off the horses and walk, but it would have taken 10 hours instead of 7 to get there without riding. The rain was a deal breaker and they decided to head back to the farm. It all worked out because there wasnt too much more rain and the tent would have never fit all 3 of us. So I had blast cantering with Galla and Vicente (my guide) couldnt believe I didnt fall off when she took off :D


So the first day we took the horses as far as we could and then hiked for about 2 hours along the river. Unfourtunately my camera case and extra battery are floating downa rive in Bolivia somwhere not because when I was jumping onto a rock in an attempt not to get my feel wet my backpack unzipped and they fell out. I wasnt happy but they´re not the worst things I could have lost. :/ We camped on the beach of the river the first night and at about 3am I opted to abamdon the tent (I was pretty cold) and sleep by the fire. Of course, on the coldest night since Ive been here I didnt have my brand new 20° sleeping bag! I had left it at the farm because I didnt want it to get dirty haha little did I know it was going to be freezing the next 2 nights! Well, I survived anyways. The fish tasted great, we made a soup for dinner and then ate them cooked on the fire for lunch the next day. I also managed to fall into the river and somehow not break my camera. It went something like this ... Vicente mira! Mucho pescado! And then he thought I jumped in to catch them. Not exactly. But shortly after we arrived at our next destination which was the house of a family living in this area. They are the only people for miles but it was pretty cool. They fish and grow everything they need and make the two day trip to town if they need something.
The next day we headed back to Ginger´s with the horses. I was a little sad to leave the farm. Being in transit all the time gets difficult after awhile, and Im starting to get bored of travelling. I bet no one ever thought they would hear me say that! But its differnt when you feel like your missing out on stuff at home. So tomorrow I will go to the park and we´ll see how long I stay there.

Life on the farm

So, Ive been without internet for about 2 weeks and I have a lot to update! I spent a little under two weeks at an organic farm called Ginger´s Paradise. In exchange for 2 hours of work each day you can stay there and eat for about $10 a day. I learned so much in the little time I was there! I can now make peanut butter, jam, cheese, yougurt, dulce de leche, pesto, various kinds of bread, and empanadas from nothing but ingredients I gathered myself at the farm! :) I learned how to harvest tomatoes, beans, carrots, radishs, lettuce, oranges, papayas, and coutless herbs that they are growing there too. I took 2 days off work to go to nearby Samaipata which was about 2 hours from Ginger´s. I stayed at a little pousada there for one night. In the very early morning (about 5am) I was a little annoyed to be woken up by the chickens but when I got up to see what the ruckus was about I was able to get the best view Ive had here of the sun rising over the mountains. I was too tired to get out the camera for this one though :D Samiapata is pretty small but it has attracted a lot of foreingers that are now living there. I noticed this in Iquitos, Peru as well.

The next day I explored an archaeological site, El Fuerte. It is a unique place because it contains remains of three cultures, the Chanes (a pre Inca culture), the Incas and the Spaniards. Here Im hiking up to the site.

From the jungle to the mountains

Yesterday was my last day in Bolivia :( but we went to a farm called Ginger´s Paradise and had an awesome day there. It´s run by an american/bolivian couple with thier three kids. The view was amazing, their farm was right in the mountains near a river. Sunday is their day off of work so we went down to the river to swim. Colleen grew up in Mississippi and couldn´t believe I hadn´t ever swam in a river, it was a lot of fun. I also ate some of the best food I´ve had in South America! The farm is almost completely sustainable, they produce most of thier food there and are even using solar power to generate their electricity. We tried all sorts of sauces and their home made peanut butter was delicious. You get a discout on the rate for your room and meals if you help out for a few hours so we helped out in the garden the next morning.

I got to Lima last night and I had forgotten how beautiful the city is, especially at night. Many of the historical buildings and plazas here have been very well preserved and are lit up at night. Another thing I forgot was how annoying the men are here! The second you sit down anywhere in a public place someone starts talking to you ... and it always starts out as a friendly question, what´s the time? where are you from? etc. but without fail they´re always looking for a wife! Oh well ...

Tonight Im heading to the airport here and I´ll be in the states tomorrow morning! Im looking forward to seeing everyone and eating a tuna melt. haha :)