Each week Gabe and I get a fantabulous box from TWO SMALL FARMS in Watsonville, CA. As you can see, my misbehaved dog is really into it too- Chahta especially loves the yellow squash.

“CSA” stands for community supported agriculture. The way it works is that community members purchase a “share” of a local farm, which can be paid seasonally, quarterly, or monthly (depending on the farm.) In exchange for purchasing this share (which is a steal given the amount of fresh organic produce you receive!), your local farmer receives a stable source of income, and you as a consumer get to know your food source a little better.

I’m not entirely sure yet what I am going to do with this week’s ingredients, since I have been out of town. We will probably do something along the lines of roasted potatoes (and maybe I’ll throw the beets in there).

The radishes will go with lime and salt.

We might try deep frying the squash again (though that didn’t work so well last time) – otherwise, I like to saute them with onion, then add a cream sauce and make some tacos.

As for the spinach, I think that calls for quiche, but I think I’m stumped on the other set of greens. They look a little scary, so they might be given away!!! (I can’t do bitter greens).

OHHHH and the strawberries… prob will go with smoothies (I am making some kefir these days that I can mix it with), or they will likely be used to lure Chahta back inside when he wants to play ball for hours upon hours… suggestions???

*Shannon and Gabe live with their dog Chahta, cat Hya, and turtle Wax, in Bonny Doon, CA (in the Santa Cruz Mountains.) Shannon currently teaches at UC Santa Cruz, and Gabe is an landscape painter and project manager at the habitat restoration company Central Coast Wilds. Chahta is a professional misbehaved sweetheart and squash-eater :)