Little Luxuries from the Land

Those of us from my generation, and I suppose even our parents' generation, cannot remember a time before super-markets.  A time when strawberries and greens were only eaten in early summer, tomatoes and peppers were only offered in mid-summer, and when pumpkins, potatoes, and apples were only available in the fall.  And as for avocados.... well, what were they anyway?  For the generations before us, winter meant eating produce in canned, frozen, or in some other preserved form.

Yes, as a modern-day "glo-burbanite" I am privileged to enjoy eating just about any food from around the globe which seems to have miraculously made its way to a little neat pile on the shelves of my local super-market.  And then of course, I even have the option to visit all sorts of cross-cultural restaurants.  If I feel like Italian, I might go to the Olive Garden.  If I am feeling a little Southeast Asian, there are delicious Thai and Indian restaurants nearby.  Or I could fulfill my Mexican taste-buds at Alebrije! 

It's easy to lose touch with how much of the rest of the world functions without all of these luxuries.  And yet sometimes, I think, we suburbanites miss out on some little luxuries of being part of the natural order of growing and harvesting seasons.

That is one of the reasons I love being a part of a community-supported-agriculture (CSA) co-op.  This is our third year being members of Lancaster County Farm Fresh Co-op.  Our membership enables us to support local, organic farmers (in an era where farmers find it very difficult to make profits) while enjoying fresh, delicious, and nutritious produce from May to November!  Being a part of a CSA co-op has also taught me about the rhythm of seasonal produce.  And so we eat broccoli when it's in season and kale when it's in season and butternut squash when it's in season.  And I preserve as much as I can so that we can enjoy  frozen zucchini or pureed pumpkin in muffins throughout the winter.

I feel we have now gained a "taste" for how many around our world live and eat from year to year.  There is an excitement that comes with waiting for certain foods to grow and eat.  You can only imagine my anticipation for fresh salsa and BLT's, since we have bought a rare tomato since last summer!  There is an eagerness to be resourceful so that no leaf of arugula is wasted, but is instead turned into pesto.  And there is a gratefulness to the earth, to our Creator, and to the hard-working farmers who have so diligently nurtured seeds into fruit for our nourishment and joy!

If you share my enthusiasm for eating fresh and local, you MUST know about this fantastic cookbook, entitled Simply in Season which organizes recipes by what is in season.  You may also enjoy following this blog, Thy Hand Hath Provided, where a very passionate woman raises most of her food on her own land and posts the most delicious recipes with step-by-step pictures.