BAY AREA SPOTLIGHT: Farm Fresh To You!

It was a sad, sad sight: I had cleaned my refrigerator, and put everything back. All that was left was a door full of condiments, three bottles of wine (one white, one rose, one bubbly), a chunk of parmesan cheese, a nearly-expired carton of almond milk, tortillas, and the end of a stick of butter.

You see, with my schedule being as it is (a full-time job - lately, with 11-hour days, running group, and attempting to have some semblance of a social life while getting important errands done)...I often neglect to stock my fridge. This leads to spending $$$ every day on lunch (and sometimes dinner too) and neglecting one of my favorite things to do in life - cooking. Ironically, I live right between Whole Foods and Mollie Stone's - which are possibly two of the most expensive (yet comprehensive) grocery stores in San Francisco, but can't seem to find the time to go shopping. So after a weekend run on the Embarcadero with my friend Jay, we both ended up in the SF Ferry Building to get coffee...and we were both persuaded to sign up for Farm Fresh To You, a delivery service that boasts Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). The guy gave us $10 off our first order, so naturally, I went for the Mixed Regular box: about 10 lbs. of seasonal veggie and fruit offerings (regularly $31.50 per delivery, $21.50 with the discount!). That makes my produce an average of $2.15 per lb. for organic produce - unheard of at Whole Foods or Mollie Stone's. KA-CHING!

My first box arrived on Tuesday. Inside:

Yellow peaches
Black Plums
Blueberries
Summer Squash
Chard
Gypsy Peppers
Lipstick Peppers
Heirloom Tomatoes
Greenleaf Lettuce
Red Beets
Nantes Carrots
Red Onions

Everything is CERTIFIED ORGANIC. I have to say, I was pretty impressed, even if a couple of the items looked a bit weathered. I did receive a little newsletter in the box from Thaddeus (I'm guessing, the head farmer of Capay Farms) acknowledging that the latest produce offerings have been "pretty rough" due to the awkward transition between spring and summer. But no matter - I find a strange familiar happiness when I can smell the dirt on my vegetables. My green-thumbed grandfather used to grow bok choy and eggplant and tomatoes in our yard (among many other things) and we were fortunate to have truly fresh produce on a regular basis, so this is very comforting for me. PLUS, this will totally put my creative cooking skills to the test, as you don't really get a choice as to what they give you. I smell an Iron Chef session coming on, don't you?

For more information about Community Supported Agriculture and delivery from Capay Farms, visit http://www.farmfreshtoyou.com or stop by the San Francisco Ferry Building.