I’m looking at a vegetable stock that may smell, taste and cook like it came from my mother’s kitchen, but it certainly doesn’t look like it did. It’s purple.
Let’s back up. There I am, a little into my eighth week of service at Groundwork Lawrence, when Maria Natera, our Healthy Living Programs Manager, reminded me that Farmer Dave had brought our first CSA share, the drop-off conveniently located downstairs.
I had heard about CSA programs before, and given that I’m a somewhat recent college grad whose interest in food has only recently upgraded past ramen and Doritos, I signed up because a. fresh food is allegedly good for you, b. my mother made sure I knew how to chop vegetables and c. GWL pays for my share as a benefit for my service.
Fit snug in my green box were a variety of vegetations, familiar and other:
-
some carrots (orange and purple, a distinction I wasn’t prewarned about)
-
greens in DELIGHTFUL packaging, which Farmer Dave described patiently, and that info whisked itself out of my head immediately
-
celeriac (celery root), had to Google what to do with that
-
onions and potatoes, in similar DELIGHTFUL packaging as well
Additionally, I took home some GoldRush apples which were “ugly on the outside, delicious on the inside.”
After I had taken my lion’s share home, I had to face the reality of new ingredients. I did a quick search for celeriac recipes, and found one that matched most of my ingredients. I decided it was probably a bit ambitious to commit to making a soup in one night, so instead, I made my vegetable stock with carrots (orange and purple) and onions. Yes, I know my stock should include all my odds and ends and I shouldn’t waste PERFECTLY good vegetables on a stock. Yolo.
This week is AmeriCorps Week, and the day I received my share and started making my stock was International Women’s Day. As I sit here, writing this post out, smelling my stock form, I am thankful to be doing service at an organization that contributes to providing access to fresh food. I am thankful that I am serving at an organization that takes its mission so seriously that it pays for my CSA share so I can take part as well. And I’m also incredibly thankful to have been raised by a woman who believed in national service and making sure I knew how to chop vegetables.
To find out about how to receive your own CSA share, see here.
Editor's note: The photo I used is not from this week, but a great example of what ~might arrive for you! I took some low quality photos of my high quality vegetables in a stock pot here and here.