Eating locally

Today was the first pickup day for the winter shares in the Clinton Hill CSA. From the left, coordinators Seth (I apologize--I'm blanking on his last name), and Sean Redmond, were handing out boxes of local produce on the porch of Sean's home, a place I've admired from afar many times. I love the color of his place--it's a very light spearmint--and the way it contrasts with the ruby red door.

In any case, I've never bought a share from a CSA (csa = community supported agriculture) before, so this was an exciting day for me. For $120, I get a box of locally grown food once a month for next four months. (I'm not sure if there are shares left, but if you're curious, this is the CH CSA site.) My box was filled with yukon gold potatoes, baby beets, turnips, parsnips, salad and braising greens, squash, apples, pears and a jug of cider. The veggies are grown organically on Windflower farm in Easton, NY (roughly 200 miles away) but the fruit comes from a different farm (Borden perhaps? That's the name on the cider), which uses a small amount of pesticides. I prefer no pesticides, but it beats the waxy apples at the Associated.

I'm not sure what to do with the turnips. Put em in a soup? Mash them with the potatoes? If you have any ideas, please share them...