It's Time to Eat From The Farm!

Yesterday's Dinner:
1 small avocado mushed up with large scoops of Deep Root Organic Raw Cultured Beets and Raw Cultured Sauerkraut, with a healthy sprinkling of Dulse seaweed shake - SO YUMMY!
3 Medjool dates

Today:
Exercise:
My own personal triumph - it's been two months that I've been nursing a broken pinky toe. As a result, all my Winter running, which I love dearly, went out the window as I focused my attention on healing my toe.
Today, I ran outside for the first time in two months! It was a beautiful run; slow, breathing deeply the smell of the Long Island Sound, which was to the right of me; being loving to my toe and running gently....but just perfect!

Breakfast/Lunch:
1 luscious mango
2 stalks celery with dulse seaweed shake

Mid-afternoon:
16 oz. Sublime Smoothie with 6 strawberries, 1 orange, 1 kiwi and a handful of parsley; with 2 teaspoons of mesquite powder and 1 teaspoon of Healthforce Nutrition Dark Mint maca (plus water)


More of the smoothie might follow in the later afternoon
Dinner to come:
New recipe that I made up:
1/2 a large bunch of flat leaf spinach (you can use the whole bunch if you like)
1 teaspoon Red River chickpea miso
1 teaspoon stone ground mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
Put it all in a food processor with the "S" chopping blade and process till smooth.
I will have this for dinner on thin slices of Manna sprouted rye bread.
Salad with red leaf lettuce, fennel, carrot and red pepper with lime and a little Himalayan sea salt


As many of my readers know, when we purchase our vegetables, even if they are organic, they have been shipped hundreds to thousands of miles, days and weeks (or months) from when they were picked, handled by many people and creating a large carbon footprint toward global warming by all the steps and miles it takes to get them to market.
Ultimately, growing our own produce that we pick the same day will bring us the highest nutrients while helping to heal the planet.
If that is not possible, I recommend becoming part of a CSA. I've been involved in supporting the local farming process for years, and am a huge advocate of supporting local farmers and eating close to home, both personally and as a wonderful way to connect children to their food source.
Have you ever tasted the difference between a head of organic lettuce from the market vs. one just picked that morning at the farm? not to mention the extended shelf life of fresh picked.
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You become part of the farming community by taking a CSA share for the season. You pay a fee that supports the entire farming cycle. The fees usually ranges between $200 and $600 for a 1o or 12 week season. Each week, the farm delivers the shares to a local drop-off point, where the members pick up. Their are still a number of local, organic farms all over the country; typically, they are up from the city areas in the more rural spots.
Sometimes, two people split a share, if they are not a large family.
We eat from the crop cycle; if this Spring is not a good season for carrots, we don't get carrots. We thrive on what makes the farm thrive each season.
Often the farms offer special events' dinners or gatherings.
Below I offer three links. The first is to the farm with whom I will have my CSA this year; Red Clover Farms in Seymour, CT. This will give you an example of how it all runs. The second is a link the Kim Dulka's blog; she is the owner of Red Clover, a generational family farm. There are some great photos that illustrate what goes on at the farm.
The final link is to Connecticut NOFA; North East Farming Association, which lists all the local farms that offer CSA's. Wherever you are in the country or world, you can google and tap into or hear by word-of-mouth about your own local farms and CSA's.
Some farms allow you to volunteer on the farm and get a feel for local farming.
This year, I will be investing in a Spring CSA, and then a Summer CSA with a fruit add-on, all from Red Clover.
I encourage each of you to tap into the energy and nutrients of local produce and support our organic farmers.
http://redcloverblossom.com/csa.html

http://redcloverfarms.blogspot.com/

http://ctnofa.org/CSAs.htm

In Health,
Hope