Finding local egg, dairy and other farms.
If you’re wondering where to buy your eggs, milk, produce or meat near you. It may be possible to sign up for CSA programs around you too!
These steps will help give your kids healthier options than food from massive farms — those that use hormones, antibiotics and other harmful additives.
I’m reading Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver at the moment and not that I think I have the will to go completely local like she did in the book, but I do try to make a conscious and conscientious effort to buy locally. And one of those decisions led to us joining the CSA at a farm in town. Well, one of my friends went away this week and I got to reap the rewards. I got her CSA bin. And this week’s bin was chocka-block full of kale, basil, green beans, purple beans, sugar snap peas, mustard greens, arugula, kohlrabi, beets, green onions, herbs and flowers. So many delicious fresh vegetables! Actually a bit too many for us to use while fresh and lovely with all that is planned, so I gave some arugula to another friend. 
I decided to continue on my buying-local streak since I needed some eggs and milk so I went to our regular egg farm, Stietzel’s but it just closed so I rushed up to another wonderful farm, Holbrook’s, before they shut. Problem is when I go here it’s like I’m in a local produce and dairy shopaholic’s heaven. Sort of like when I go shoe shopping. I need to just back away from those gorgeous gladiator sandals that I can’t afford right now. I don’t need them. Just like, I didn’t need all the offerings at Holbrook Farm—and they have a lot to offer.
Since I had my bounty of veggies from the CSA, I wasn’t tempted by the vegetables here, but I got some local milk, sausage, yogurt, and I really went a little overboard and bought a chicken from them. Not that I don’t want to buy local or didn’t want to buy a chicken, but i was shopping for that night’s dinner. I thought I’ll roast it (it was raining and seemed like the perfect thing to make for dinner on a dreary night) EXCEPT that it was already past 6 when we got there. I don’t know what I was thinking. By the time we got home, dressed the chicken, etc… Needless to say, we ate very late.
I was lucky enough to get a headless chicken so preparing it was relatively easy. I stuffed the cavity with celery and garlic scapes. I put sea salt, pepper, chopped fresh sage (about 1 Tbsp), chopped fresh thyme (about 1 Tbsp) and olive oil on the chicken. Then I lay it on a bed of garlic scapes and put it in a 450 F preheated oven for 20 minutes. I turned the oven to 325F and it continued for about an hour plus until it read 165F with instant-read thermometer.
I threw in some new potatoes to the roasting dish about 45 minutes into it. They were simply coated in olive oil, salt and pepper.
Well, I had this gorgeous bunch of kale to start. 
Last few weeks there hasn’t been enough of it to feed 4 or 5 of us so I add it to other things, but this week there was heaps and I got the added benefit of my friends harvest. 
I stripped the leaves off the stalks with finesse, I had the steamer all ready, but once it was in, I got a little distracted by one of my sons and I overcooked it. Kale Fail! Kale takes longer than spinach, chard, beet greens to cook, but I mean when the lovely silver-sage green is now a khaki olive-brown you know it’s long gone. I tried fixing it with some soy and sesame which my eldest took to, but my youngest two hated it and I don’t blame them, so did I.
At least my kids enjoyed the chicken, beans and roasted potatoes. They went to bed very late but we had a great dinner all from local farms (ok, the kale wasn’t so great). 
Note to self: Next time, save the roasting chicken for when there’s time and pay attention to the kale!
“What is a CSA?” some might ask, others might already be in one. Community Supported Agriculture (fruits, vegetables and even meat, eggs and dairy) is one way to reinforce your children’s healthy food habits, help our local economy and the environment. By buying local you help reduce the impact of transporting the produce to your supermarket; decrease the harmful chemicals used and ingested; and can teach children where food comes from! We belong to one at a local farm and our first “shared harvest” is ready this week. I’m so excited! The amazing flavors of freshly picked produce will convert anyone. For instance a strawberry from the supermarket tastes bland and like cardboard compared to a freshly picked organic one from our CSA- it’s juicy and bursting with rich, strawberry flavor.
At most CSA’s you pay a portion before you receive anything— you are actually paying for the seeds, etc. and then pay the remaining cost half-way through. You share in the bounty from May/June until October/November depending upon the weather, blight, pests, etc. Last year the wet weather wreaked havoc upon the crops, so we’re hoping for a better year. It’s the chance you take when going “all natural” and not relying upon hot houses or pesticides to control the outcome. But what you receive is so much better in nutrition and in taste.
Each Wednesday we go to the farm, collect our bin full of fruit and vegetables and create our next week’s meals around them. The kids love to see the cows, sheep and chickens. 
They see the gardens with the plants growing and this year will help weed and maybe even harvest. On an episode of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution a classroom of children didn’t recognize any vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, etc) but how many children have seen broccoli before it’s harvested? It’s really a wonderful experience all-round. 
Even though I’d grown up with a garden and my mother cooked great foods, I had never cooked Swiss chard, kale, beet greens and some squashes until they came in our bins a few years ago. So my children had never eaten them before either. Now they are a regular part of our diet, even when we’re not receiving our bins. I believe it’s helped them want to eat the food when they’ve seen it grow or discovered a new one in our bin. We also plant a few herbs and vegetables in our garden (tomatoes, chives, mint, basil, potatoes, peppers). This year I’ve cleared away more of our ever intruding weeds to make room for some beans and salad greens. I’m not the best gardener, so I hope we get lucky! At least the kids have fun!
Rainbow chard is an excellent vegetable to introduce. The colors and textures are great for kids. The stems, unlike kale, can be chopped and served with the leaves. I wash and chop the leaves and stems into one inch strips, steam for a few minutes, remove from heat and when we’re just about to serve, reheat in a pat of butter, couple of pinches of sea salt and twists of fresh ground pepper. My boys love the earthy flavor and the rich colors.
From my reading about foods over the years, I’d learned that certain nutrients from vegetables cross over to your blood better if they’re served with a little bit of fat. So fat-free salad dressing is not the best way to go. A tiny bit of butter, a little olive oil, or even some cheese… actually a better way to eat those veggies. I stick with butter most times because the vegetables flavors aren’t masked. And kids will eat it!
http://www.newpondfarm.org/shared_harvest
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