I picked up my first CSA box from Highmark Farms this morning — yeah!
The process was easy as could be. The pick-up point is outside the Toronto restaurant Papillon on the Park — directly across from Jonathan Ashbridge Park, where the Leslieville Market was held up until last Sunday. I signed up for the medium-sized box, which costs $30 a week and contains about a dozen different items — you can swap them out for other offerings if you’re not keen on something in the box, and each week you select an ‘extra’. It could be preserves, prepared foods such as perogies or meat pies, or frozen meat. This week the ‘extra’ I selected was ground wild boar. I can’t wait to cook it up into some burgers or chili! [Are you interested in signing up for a CSA box through Highmark Farms? Here’s how!]
Here are the complete contents of my Week 1 box:
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 bunch of celery
- 1 leek
- A bunch of red beets, with their leaves still attached
- A bunch of spinach
- A bag of cremini mushrooms
- 6 sweet potatoes
- 5 carrots
- A dozen eggs
- Ground wild boar
Here’s where I need your help. I’m intent on using the full contents of my box, each and every week. Too much of the gorgeous produce I bought at the market this summer went to waste because I didn’t use it in time. I mentioned in a previous blog post how I want this weekly box to inspire my creativity, but equally important is the need to be efficient and use every last bit of it.
Based on what I received this week, I’d love to know how you would use it! Share your suggestions in the comments below, or email them to me at suzanne.ellis@cityline.rogers.com.
If I use your suggestion, I’ll give you a shout-out in an upcoming post.
Stay tuned to see how I used this week’s bounty!
Suzanne