Taproot CSA

Taproot Farm is an endeavor that is based in love and sustainability. The duality of that commitment is important in every undertaking they begin and we are thrilled to be part of their move into the world of Community Supported Agriculture. We often travel four to five weeks of the summer, and have a hectic fall schedule as well, but this summer, we are largely home, and eager to cook using seasonal fruits and vegetables. So this is a dream come true, with exquisite timing. I am eager to make things that are driven by what I have on hand plus what I get. Click on the link in the title to explore Taproots multi-layered website, and learn more about what they are building in North English.

The CSA is planning to have things more than the usual fruits and vegetables, as they are making things and they started out on a great foot.
Here is what we got in our first week's box:
*Sesame semolina bread, Prairie Flour Bakery, Iowa City
*Tart Cherry preserves, cherries, Megan Koppenhafer, Oxford
*Flowers, Anna's Cutting Garden, Oxford
*Eggs, Taproot Farm, North English
*Cucumbers, scallions, broccoli, and beets, Scattergood Farm, West Branch
*Basil, Jon's garden, Iowa City

I first trimmed out the dead flowers from the garden flowers I harvested at my house last weekend, and combined them with the flowers I got and had a lovely bouquet (pictured above). I made a soup with the beets and beet greens, plus the white part of the scallions. The green scallion went into a cucumber salad, and I made a salad with the broccoli, adding wild rice and some of the tart cherry preserves. I made the basil into a pesto and used some of it to season a chicken noodle soup. I have some additional ideas for how to use the rest of the bounty (the bread is a levain batard with a wonderful sour flavor, so we are enjoying that 'as is').