First Bite from the Farm

Now that I'm growing my own bounty on my very own porch and have had the pleasure of harvesting my own greens for simple salads for almost a month now, the first bite from the farm carries a little less pizazz than it used to but it is still a hallmark occasion for us. Over mothers day weekend (its been a while I know) we made our first trip of the year out to our CSA farm, Great Country Farms in Bluemont, VA, to tour the fields by hayride, play on the new playground equipment, enjoy the new chairs in the kids playground and pick up our first bonus vegi. It just so happened that they were over run with asparagus and were worried about it going to waste with the poor weather driving down turnout and the fact that now they are not starting the shares until June, well after the asparagus is gone. As a half share member we got a "large" handful to take home. This unexpected "freebie" (no additional cost to the share we have already purchased) had us very excited as we got to the farmers market too late to buy any and I was disappointed to wait another week to get my favorite spring seasonal food. Well I was excited any way...asparagus spears are just a little to alien for K right now. She was happy to wash them and use them as drumsticks but stopped just short of putting them in her mouth. I however thoroughly enjoyed them steamed and added to a local omelet topped with feta, sauteed with local butter and a dash of salt as a simple side, microwave steamed for lunch at the office, and served cold on my porch-grown salad.