The CSA Project

This past winter, the three of us (April, Cynthia, and Genevieve) settled on a writing and culinary challenge. We would each get a CSA and blog about it. In the CSA project, we take you along with us as we think of what to make for dinner, offer recipes for what we made, and as we talk to farmers and chefs about every step our food makes. Here's the big idea from the first post on the blog. It shows our direction and our ideas. —April

On Wicked Tasty Harvest, we talk about amazing and tasty food—food that is grown and raised to be as delicious as possible by a purposeful farmer, cooked by someone who loves the flavors and tries to make the most of them, and savored and relished by someone who appreciates both the tastes and efforts. There's artistry at every level and we want to talk about it.

A year ago, I signed up for my first CSA (community-supported agriculture) share. After weeks of kale (not always my favorite after the fourth week in a row), I thought it would be interesting to workshop my CSA box. Last year I failed to make the most of some foods. I thought blogging it would be a good exercise as a cook—what recipes did I try? What worked and what didn't? How could I possibly cook something great with a vegetable I'd seen far too much of that season? How did I make gems out of the far-too-fleeting favorites?

From there, the idea developed to include the farmers who decided what to grow and how to do it. I wanted to know about their culinary goals. I also wondered about the environmental and political issues inherent in finding quality food. Basically, it leaves a lot to discuss. That's just what this blog should be—a discussion about the food, the resulting dish, and any issue that relates to it that we feel like discussing, from the serious to the silly.

A few months ago I signed up for a different (and exciting!) CSA and I told two good friends about the blog idea. Happily, they wanted to jump on board and join the discussion. I was thrilled, to say the very least. Genevieve and Cynthia are both amazing journalists with a passion for food and information—and with an amazing range of taste, too. Anything from fine to funky finds a safe harbor among our group. Without the collaboration of our three voices, I don't think this blog would have happened, or been the fun we're planning on. The topic is broad and requires multiple voices to create a good flow of information and feedback on culinary exploits. Mmmm...tasty culinary exploits.

We are each armed with our own CSAs and ready to go where that takes us. I have a full share, Cynthia has a half share, and Genevieve has a meat share. We'll each talk about our farmers, the food, what we do with it, how dinner tasted, and any other tangential thoughts. (Trust me, some of us practically live our lives in the tangential plane, so there should be plenty of off-shoots that capture the attention.)

Welcome to the discussion. We hope you'll enjoy reading what we're cooking, what we've read, whether we'll pull our hair out after one more bunch of chard, plus thoughts from the chefs, farmers, and programs we'll track down.

Join in and talk to us. It's going to be a delicious and informative harvest season. Oh, and wicked tasty, too.

In earlier posts, we each introduced our farms and our goals. Take a peek to catch up.
Cynthia jumps in with Heavens Harvest Farm
Genevieve takes a bite out of Chestnut Farms
April dishes more about Siena Farms