Last Day At the Tempe CSA

With July coming to a close, my internship with the Tempe CSA will be finished and I will no longer be posting blogs. I have learned so much about how to prepare all of the new foods that I have encountered, and also learned a lot about the importance of eating local food. There are a number of benefits that come with organizations like the Tempe CSA for the community, plus the food is much healthier to eat than food from a regular grocery store. This week, we had much of the same food that we had in previous weeks. While some of our members seem to be getting tired of some of the options, everyone is still very excited about all of the tomatoes that we have been receiving! The cherry tomatoes were extremely delicious, and I've found myself eating them by the basketful multiple times over the past few weeks.

I will miss getting to try all of the new food that I have been introduced to through this internship, and I will also miss getting to know the members that come in each week and learning about them and their interest in sustainable food!

How Does the Tempe CSA Work?

I realized this week that there might be some people that read these blogs that are not members of the CSA, so I wanted to take this week to explain how it works! This is especially important because our next session is starting in just a few weeks, so those of you that are looking to renew your membership or start a membership will need to sign up before June 20th.

The first picture shows the room that we use for the Thursday afternoon pick up location. The members start at the right end of the far tables and move along to each of the stations and choose their food selections. There are eight different types of produce that we receive each week, and the small cards that are on the buckets tell the members how many of each different fruit or vegetable they are able to pick out. This number is dependent on how much yield the farm has per type of produce and how many members the food needs to be split between.


The second picture shows our Trade In table. There is one share of each of the eight foods placed on this table at the beginning of the day, and if a member would like to trade in one of their shares for a second share of something else that they like better they can replace it. During the past few weeks many people have been replacing their grapefruit with the other options on the table because there are so many people that have trees of their own. Since they were still eating their own fruit, they decided that it would be a better option for them to take something else. When the trade in table is full of something they do not want, the members can choose to place the items on the discard table instead.

All that the members have to do to get into this program is to pay their dues every twelve weeks, and then they are able to receive all of this fresh produce on a weekly basis!

Pumpkin Blossoms at the Tempe CSA!

pumpkin blossoms

This week we received pumpkin blossoms as one of our shares at the Tempe CSA, and we were all quite intrigued with them! Many of our members have never eaten them or cooked with them before, and neither have I, so I decided to look up some recipes to make sure that we are all using them to their full potential. First, I was amazed to find out that these are totally edible raw and they actually taste great! They are sweet and have a mild pumpkin taste, especially in the bottom near the root. I would recommend putting them in a salad either whole or after chopping them if you agree with me and enjoy their raw flavor.

Another great way to eat them that some of our members mentioned to me while they were passing by is to stuff them with cheese and bake them at 350 for about 20 minutes. The ones that we received at the CSA were on the small side, so I am not sure if they will need to be left in as long as those that have grown to be larger. Another suggestion that some of the members gave was to dip them in batter and fry them in oil, although that kind of defeats the purpose of having fresh and healthy vegetables! Further, they can be used to make a pumpkin blossom omelet or put on top of a pizza. They are extremely versatile and totally edible, so consumers can feel free to get creative when they start using these awesome vegetables.