23 Mar 2012

Late March VA Produce…and What's In Season Near YOU!

by | posted in: Uncategorized | 3

Happy summer spring, people! I don’t know about where you live, but it was HOT here today! Cherry blossoms and daffodils are in bloom and it’s even too warm to leave the AC off and windows open! At one point today it actually hit 90 degrees. I’m in love. Today we also got our bi-monthly CSA share delivery, which always a highlight of my week!

So much GREEN! Apparently green vegetables love the early spring? It’s great to have this many veggies around now because that’s what I tend to leave off my grocery list and then not have enough of (bad habit!). In this share we got…

…hydroponic romaine lettuce! We eat a lot of romaine around here.

Hydroponic green tomatoes, which will certainly be fried in good Southern fashion. 🙂

Easter Egg and French Breakfast Radishes (I’ve never had either!):

Shiitake mushrooms:

Spinach:

Watercress:

A little kale (perfect amount for a lunch portion of chips!):

Cabbage Collard Greens:

And our usual dozen eggs from happy roaming hens:

With this week’s share we’re going to be having…

  • spaghetti and meatballs with romaine salad
  • roasted chicken pot pie with fried green tomatoes
  • shiitake and spinach angel hair pasta
  • kale chips with lunch
  • and SMOOTHIES and SALADS with everything else!
My original idea in showing you the share I get (besides just for fun) is to also help you to know what’s really growing right now if you live in my region. But I thought it might also be helpful at the same time to go over what’s in season in other regions right now! Clearly you don’t all live in Virginia. 😛 I don’t know about you, but it’s really hard for me to remember exactly what’s growing locally when and the list is constantly changing. For you Americans I hope this can be helpful in your grocery shopping so that you get the best, freshest produce possible! Every state differs but I did some research and these regional lists should be pretty accurate.
SOUTHEAST:
  • kale, lettuce, cabbage, mushrooms, spinach, onions, strawberries (in North Carolina)

NORTHEAST:

  • not a whole lot going on yet! mushrooms, and colder weather produce like root vegetables

MIDWEST:

  • lettuce, cabbage, spinach, asian greens, broccoli

WEST:

  • most places not too much yet, but in CA there’s artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, lemons, oranges, grapefruit, kale, and more (lucky ducks!)

SOUTHWEST:

  • lettuce, arugula, radishes, swiss chard

 

Three cheers for produce at its peak!

Thanks for reading!
-Lauren

3 Responses

  1. Empri
    |

    Yay!!! I hope theres some left next weekend!

  2. Stephanie Tanner
    |

    OMG!! Your basket of fresh veggies looks so good. I tried to find a program in my area for getting fresh in season veggies/fruit/eggs, and the cost was so much…if you don’t mind me asking, is your program expensive?

  3. MegSmith @ Cooking.In.College
    |

    Oh my gosh all of that is so gorgeous! I am jealous.