Grateful for my CSA Share

In some parts of the United States, Farmer's Markets and CSAs have closed until spring because cold temperatures, snow, and frozen ground shut down the growing season. Residents who want to continue eating mostly local food must rely on what they have canned, pickled, fermented, cured, dehydrated, frozen, and stored over the past months.

I am grateful that I live in a warmer zone. With a more temperate climate, food can be grown year-round in southern Arizona. Hard freezes are few and far between where my CSA farmer grows his winter crops. Other than a holiday break over Christmas and New Year's so that the farm workers can visit with their families, we get farm fresh produce every week of the year.


Here is a picture of this week's CSA share. We are moving into greens season here but still enjoying a few remnants of summer. In the back is a melon, although I don't recall the variety. Perched on top is an acorn squash. We've been receiving winter squashes since mid-October. Kept in a cool part of the house, acorn squash will keep well for weeks. My Halloween pumpkins will keep for months. (I still have cooked puree in my freezer from last Halloween's pumpkin....that I didn't cook until May!)

Other than the bag of roasted green chiles in the front of the photo, everything else is greens. On the left is some red Russian kale, which goes wonderfully with potatoes. On the right is a group of baby bok choy and a bundle of tat soy, two delicious Asian greens. In the middle are two bags of spring mix. The share only included one bag of spring mix but I traded some turnips for another bag.

Our backyard garden is also still producing. We often don't get a hard freeze until January so we hope to keep the plants going for a while yet. There are eggplants ripening, more okra, and the brassicas (cabbages, broccoli, etc.) are coming right along. There is a smorgasbord of peppers of different varieties adding a rainbow of color: green, red, yellow, and even purple. The herbs haven't fared well but there is plenty of basil and a little parsley. My grapefruits are beginning to turn yellow but they are tiny this year. Despite being the size of tennis balls, they still taste good.
Is anything still growing in your area? Or are you already depending mostly on what you put up over the past months? What are you eating these days?