harmony valley

For a fortunate few, eating gluten-free is simply a choice. For others it's a difficult lifestyle change once they've been diagnosed with a gluten intolerance, which can ranging from a mild sensitivity to full-blown celiac disease.

We were down to very slim pickings when this week's Harmony Valley farmshare arrived (now that we've hit the cold months, the box comes just once every two weeks). I had been excited about it for days, especially as it became increasingly clear that we didn't have enough carrots to last the week.

Now that our Harmony Valley farmshare deliveries have slowed to just once every 2 weeks, I get especially excited when they come. Any lover of tasty soup recipes will tell you that you can never have too many root vegetables, too much squash, or too much garlic. And this week being the start of Thanksgiving ... well, let's just say I'm grateful once again for fresh, locally grown sweet potatoes to put beneath mountains of marshmallows and brown sugar.

This is Harmony Valley's last weekly farmshare for 2009 - after this week, deliveries will come only every other week through the end of the year. I can't help but feel a little bit sad about it, although I know it'll give me a good opportunity to try new foods at my local co-op - and maybe even to get out to the St. Paul Farmers Market a few times in January.

My family is nearly 6 months into our Harmony Valley farmshare, and it's astounding to think about how much has changed for us. We're making soup out of things like celeriac these days, and the other day I ate a fresh lunch consisting only of things I picked from the garden 5 minutes before. My family hardly recognizes me. We don't even keep beef jerky or gummy worms in the cupboard anymore. Crazy.

Here's another confession I'd like to make, just between you and me - when I got this week's farmshare bounty, I took a half dozen of the mini-sweet peppers, washed them off, and ate them raw while I was putting the other stuff away. I know - it sounds crazy, but it's true. Even more shocking? They were fantastic.

Is it possible to miss a bag of mixed salad greens? We've been getting them from our Harmony Valley Farmshare like clockwork, but this week, we're bag-o-mixed-salad free (fortunately, we've still got a bag of spinach). I'm totally okay with that, mostly because I've been eating tomatoes like a crazy person, thickly layered on my hummus sandwich nearly every day for lunch. I've also taking to grilling just about everything that comes, including cauliflower, which is fantastic with olive oil, black pepper, and sea salt. I haven't tried my celeriac yet, but I'm hoping to this week, especially now that I know I can grate it and fry it up like a potato pancake.

As you can see, this week's Harmony Valley farmshare box looks every bit as good as the one we've just eaten our way through. Of all last week's treasures, none went over quite as well as the broccoli romanesco, which my kids ate raw in a matter of minutes. In fact, we've been through 2 heads of the great green stuff this week (thanks, Seward Co-op!) - and a bit of tasty cheddar cauliflower as well. I made a batch of fresh salsa from last week's ingredients that was a hit, too - it's so easy when the tomatoes, garlic, jalapenos, cilantro, and onions come fresh, direct from the farm.

You'll notice that the list of what's in our Harmony Valley Farmshare is getting longer. I should also point out how amazingly good the food is. And despite the fact that I have shamefully tossed out my amaranth each week, I'm happy we got it again - just in time (again) to try out that amaranth and goat cheese pizza recipe I've been talking about from Amy Boland's site (see our picture below - it was delicious). My wife wonders when enough is enough, but even she gave me grief for not picking up a few more eggplants from last week's "choice" box.

My kitchen counter, covered with this week's farmshare bountyWhat am I going to do with all of this stuff? It's taking over my kitchen! My fridge is still nearly full from last week's Harmony Valley vegetables! My fruit share includes an entire bag full of apricots! I've been eating salad greens and sautee mix non-stop for weeks! I don't know if I can eat another basil vinaigrette. And now that there are tomatoes - blessed, delicious tomatoes - it occurs to me that nobody else in my family will touch them.

For the second straight week, I've gone right for the small yellow tomatoes. They're super sweet and super delicious, and my family won't go near them. How lucky can a fella be? Cucumbers are a big hit in my house all around, so we're glad to see those coming too. And we've got almost enough tomatoes (and peppers) for salsa, but not quite.

Here's what's in the Harmony Valley CSA box this week, with words and pictures directly from Harmony Valley's e-newsletter: