Of course you all know by now that I'm always trying to find a balance between my Inner Hippy and my Other Half, without swinging too far one way or the other. Especially when it comes to Tai. On one hand, there is the Pioneer Valley Crunchy way of life that dictates you do the "very best" for your child, even if it means only buying organic, grain-fed, free-range chicken at $20/lb. On the other hand we have the "TV is the ultimate baby-sitter and a little high fructose corn syrup never hurt anyone" mentality. I do believe I fall somewhere in the middle:
Diapers? Disposable.
Baby food? Store-bought.
High Fructose Corn Syrup? Hell no.
TV? Not yet.
Tai will, of course, eat whatever chicken they happen to sell at Costco.
Yes, we shop at Costco. And Stop & Shop, and Big Y. While The Crunchies are picking their own green beans at the local CSA farm, we are plucking our produce off the shelves of the local supermarket. I never even stop at local farm stands for corn or strawberries anymore. It's really terrible of me.
This week though, we were given a rare look into the inner sanctum of The Crunchies. Our very kind and generous neighbors (who read this blog so I have to say nice things about them) let us take one week of their farm share while they are on vacation. So this past Monday, Minh, Tai and I ventured to the farm for the very first time. What an experience--you could actually smell the Hippies. We felt completely out of our element; I've never felt less crunchy. Upon seeing the crowded room with folks running here and there gathering up their organic vegetables, Minh's brain completely shut down. He busied himself with pushing the stroller around and made it clear I was on my own with the produce. Luckily our wonderful neighbors (who really are very nice, I'm not just saying that) had given us some pointers ahead of time. So I was able to figure out what to do and not look like too much of a Newbie.
We made it home with our organic veggies and promptly began eating them. That night we had a very tasty salad made up of many different types of greens we'd never had before. But being an organic farm, they do not use any chemicals to keep the bugs off the veggies. Our greens had so many bug holes in them they looked like lace. Nothing like the beautiful, hole-free, chemical-laden greens I am so used to getting at Big Y. The salad was tasty and we don't think either of us ingested any bugs.
Now we just have to figure out what to do with Swiss Chard and Beets.
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2 comments:
Ooh - I have a really good recipe that uses swiss chard - I'll email it to you.
And boiled beets are yummy. And the beet greens are really good sauteed.
And you know I am FAR from being a valley crunchy.
saute some thinly sliced shallots in butter or olive oil until they are browning, and then throw in the swiss chard and saute until tender. If they start to dry out, add some water. It won't hurt anyone.
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