CSA Week #1

This year I am participating in a Community Supported Agriculture program with Genesis Growers.

From the website:

Genesis Growers’ mission is to provide nutritious products to local families utilizing the natural processes of the land and to provide a living wage to those who work there. It is a very personal and spiritual endeavor for Vicki Westerhoff. In fact, it’s hard to separate Vicki from Genesis because her beliefs permeate every part of the operation.

The land itself is respected. When Vicki first took over stewardship of this land she found it in bad shape. Years of traditional farming had left it in an almost sterile state. The only thing living was the crops, and those, only sustained by chemicals to fertilize and keep down weeds and pests.

Vicki changed all that. She uses no chemicals and practices sustainable, natural farming. The land uses its own natural devices to nurture what grows. The result is animals living amongst the crops and yes, weeds too. That’s OK. The natural process yields naturally healthy land that provides unmatched crops.

Genesis Growers provides a living wage to its workers. Produce in supermarkets come from all over the world. In many cases, the workers providing labor on these farms are paid pennies on the dollar. At Genesis we value our workers and pay them a living wage. Without them we wouldn’t be able to provide the best quality for our customers.

Vicki Westerhoff farms Genesis with the help of her son Jon and head worker, Jay. She also employs 6-8 hands and utilizes the help of interns and volunteers. We’re extremely proud of our farm. CSA members have the opportunity to attend two parties at the farms.

This is the first week of the summer boxes. Vicki sends out an email each week to let you know what is happening on the farm and what to expect in your box. The box this week included:
strawberries, kale, spinach, rhubarb, radishes, mixed baby salad greens, purple asparagus, and thyme. I was pretty impressed with the variety this early in the growing season. The farmers markets in Chicago are still pretty sparse. The picture at the top of the page is of the contents of this week's box. These are some pictures of what I did tonight:

This is a strawberry rhubarb crisp using this recipe.

These are Kale Chips. I dressed the Kale in red wine vinegar, olive oil, fresh thyme, salt, and pepper and then baked it on a cookie sheet until crisp. This was a suggestion from the farm.

Another shot of the purple asparagus, rhubarb, and thyme.