sustainable food » The Farm Bus from Farm to Family

What’s in the share/Recipes – 11/28 + 29

CSA Farm Share, CSA/Farm Market, Get Involved, Local Food, Recipes No Responses »

Nov 262017

Hi members, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are very grateful to have you all in our lives and as members this season. You are a very important part of the local food system and support the farmers we work with. I’m sure you don’t want to hear about more food, but maybe as Tuesday and Wednesday rolls around, you will be more ready. Recipes will follow, I just wanted to get this preview out so you can plan. Remember this list is subject to change. I will do my best to let you know of any changes.

And we will be taking orders for Christmas Trees and Wreaths! I’ll have info on pricing hopefully up on the website soon along with delivery availability, Mark is still working that out with our tree farmer, Gerald Jones. They are spray free Frasier Firs, very beautiful and fragrant, and well balanced.

PRODUCE

apples – try apple and nuts overnight oatmeal (dairyfree)
sweet potatoes – I love sweet potato, squash or pumpkin in smoothies – try this one
collards – I made this recipe for collards with bacon last night in the Instant Pot and it turned out really great.
totsoy – Totsoy (aka totsoi) is a hardy spinach like green that likes cold weather. Here’s a great guide with several recipes to try.
mint – make mint pistachio pesto
turnips – easy mashed turnips
carrots – Deborah Madison’s lentil salad with mint and carrots
leeks – root vegetable gratin
bok choy – baby bok choy and leeks
celery – stuff celery with pimento cheese for a great snack or appetizer, celery and red onion salad, Here’s how to regrow your celery from the bottom of it
rutabaga – easy roasted rutabaga
butter beans – Vegetarian butter bean soup, Melt in your Mouth butter beans
FRUIT – apples – do you have apples piling up? Make spiced apple pie filling, apple cranberry jam, or no peel instant pot apple butter

MEAT
ground pork – spring rolls with mint, pork and apple
Top Round steak – make mint chimichurri and marinate your steak easy marinated top round steak.

BREAD – Prairie Grain

CHEESE – Pimento (yum!) – souffled macaroni and cheese (calls for pimentos, but put in the cheese!), pimento cheese grilled sandwiches with tomato and bacon

What’s in the Share – Week of 11/14 + 15

CSA Farm Share, Local Food, Recipes, Uncategorized No Responses »

Nov 112017

Hi members,

Here’s what is expected to be in the share this coming week:

Produce
cabbage – grill it. Its amazing.
spaghetti squash – how to cook it
butternut squash – butternut squash casserole
potatoes – – Here’s a LOT of different recipes to try
yellow tomatoes – yellow tomato sauce
baby romaine – baby romaine salad with date vinaigrette
collards – It’s time to cook a mess o greens, Vegan Southern Collards
baby bok choy – Stir fry with garlic and bok choy
roma tomatoes – baked tomato and mozzarella stacks with arugula and balsamic vinegar
green onions
apples – Waldorf Salad
fresh pressed cider
apple butter
arugula – Breakfast grilled cheese with arugula
thyme – thyme onion cheese tart
broccoli rabe – olive oil braised broccoli rabe

Fruit
Apples – Vegan apple crisp
Raspberries (maybe but its been below freezing)

Meat
Puff’s Maple Pork BBQ
bacon
Polyface chicken – chicken stuffed potatoes

Cheese
Mt View Mozzarella

Bread
Billy Bread

Fall/Winter CSA – Join Now and Save! DC/Capitol Hill and Richmond, VA

CSA Farm Share, CSA/Farm Market, Get Educated, Get Involved, Local Food No Responses »

Sep 042017

Details have been finalized on our CSA for the Fall/Winter season, and are online now!

Join Now because…. We are offering a FLASH WAIVE on the member fee if you sign up now thru Wed at midnight. This is for ANY type of share, and includes payment plans. Cannot be combined with Military discount, or the FULL17 discount (see details below).

Our CSA proudly serves Washington, DC and Richmond, VA

You will receive a seasonal mix of the finest local produce, sustainably and humanely raised local grass-fed/pastured meats, fresh grass-fed dairy, pastured eggs, fresh baked bread, and a variety of other items are also available!

Shop a la carte items.
Hold deliveries when you need to – use online calendar to place your box on hold when you want.
Payment plans available.
Membership fee (includes fuel, admin, labor) is $90/$45 for Washington DC, $25/50 Richmond for the season of weekly 20x/bi-weekly 10x. Member fee is charged separately (we will bill, and pro-rate)
Home Delivery in Washington, DC is powered by Schlep It eco-friendly trikes $8 time). RVA home delivery is FREE within 5 miles of Farm to Famiy.
Referral Rewards Program – Earn $25 credit for each new member you refer!

10% discount for Active military/Veteran (not including member fee) – email for info.
We were listed in the Washington Post story on flexible CSAs in the Washington DC area.

Here’s the info on Fall season:

Season is 20 weeks (10 for biweekly, every other week)
If you have credit, it will roll over to use for Fall. If you forego Fall, it will roll until Spring. You can donate your credit, or transfer it to someone else.
Promo code for Full Share (the combo one with produce, meat, dairy, bread) paid in full up front: receives 10% discount with code FULL17. This will be valid until the end of September. Does not combine with any other discount. This is not for any of the other shares paid in full up front.
Military discount 10% for active military/retired veterans. Must be someone in your immediate family. Email me with your service info. Code is same as last time. Email me for the code if you need it. Does not combine with any other discount.
Starts week of 9/26 – no break from Summer so no missing out on any of the bounty! Host drops and biweekly deiveries start week of 10/3. Ends week of 2/27. Based on weather, the Spring CSA will start in March or April, with a little break to let the farmers get back on their feet.
We will have a holiday break from 12/25 resuming 1/9.
Holiday meat will be pre-ordered soon. More details as we go along: Polyface turkeys, lamb, oysters, etc.
Cost: Produce remain the same $45 (yay!); meat and dairy are going up $1 to $35, Full share $2 to $122. Fruit is $10 and goes until the winter holiday. Use the drop down menu to choose frequency. Price will pro-rate for the number of drops left in season.
Payment plans: You have the option of paying in full at subscribing (we appreciate this!), or choosing payment installments. Depending on subscription type, between 2- 4 payments. These happen every 30 days from the time of subscription. It is a hybrid between a more conventional CSA where you have to pay in full up front months in advance, and a service where payments are more spread out as it helps us to have more money at the beginning of season to work with your farmers. If you need a more generous payment plan, email me and I can set that up for you. We want everyone to be able to afford the CSA! Thank you!
DC drops are Eastern Market, 7th/G, 23rd Pl (if we get 10 people!) and Home Delivery ($8/time 20002/20003 Capitol Hill).
RVA – Drops will be: Farm to Family Market, Home Delivery (FREE).
Host Sites/Home Delivery need 10 minimum people before they are a go. If this is you – please share so that it happens!
- 7th/G – biweekly
- 23rd Place – biweekly
- DC Home Delivery – weekly/biweekly
- RVA Home Delivery – weekly/biweekly
- If we do not get enough people at the DC drops they will revert to Eastern Market. If we do not get enough weekly home deliveries, they will revert to biweekly. If we don’t get enough biweekly home deliveries, they will revert to Eastern Market in DC and Farm to Family Market in RVA.
Seasonal member fees are: DC $90/45, RVA $50/25 for weekly and biweekly memberships. Member fees are for the season (not per time) and prorate for late joiners. These fees pay for fuel, labor, software, admin etc – everything to get your food to you. We are unable due to our many flexible options to roll these into the CSAware software without multiply charging the people who have multiple options in their share. Charges thru CSAware are COST OF FOOD ONLY. The member fee will be charged to your card on file shortly after you subscribe for the season, or added on to a check or cash payment.
Home Delivery – Weekly/Bi-Weekly – We need a minimum of 10 members to do weekly home delivery. Share and get your friends on board! Your home delivery fee will be charged separately when you sign up.
Partial season: if you think there is even a remote chance you are moving or need a partial season for any reason, email me and I can set you up. We can extend you based on what happens. It is very hard on us and our vendors when you decide to exit mid-season without notice, or making arrangements for someone to take over your share.
Host a drop! You need 10 confirmed members to host a drop and receive a free share. Contact Mark at 804-397-7337 for more info and see if your location works. Share with your friends/family etc. Worksites are ok!
Fall Fruit share (hooray!) – DC only. 12x weekly/5x biweekly at $10 time This will end in December. This will be apples, pears, possibly raspberries (Agriberry has a variety that fruits in November) or other late fruit season surprises. maybe jams and other fruit added value items. This is great if you have kids, juice, love apples, pack your lunch, make applesauce, pies and other desserts, dehydrate, jam, etc. If you are in Richmond and want extra fruit, please join the Agriberry Fruit CSA – They are our fruit partner. Thank you!

What will be in Produce?

Late Summer/early fall will overlap.
We promise this will never be the kale/potato/turnip CSA.
Virginia and surrounding food shed are 4 season growing states – You will see numerous varieties of heirloom veggies: greens such as kale, creasy, collards, some herbs may grow all winter thru snow and cold, and broccoli, cauliflower, beets, cabbage, parsnips, spinach, lettuce/salad greens, herbs and other veggies thrive in cooler weather.
We also work with a lot of smart growers who are using hoop houses, greenhouses, hydroponics and other methods to stretch the season with lettuce, herbs, sprouts, tomatoes, mushrooms.
You will get items that are also grown, harvested and stored in the fall – apples, pears, squash, pumpkins, turnips, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots.
Produce share WILL contain pantry items in addition to veggies/fruit depending on weather, and especially as the season progresses. These are items that are grown and dried/preserved/frozen and support our farmers during the lean seasons and reduce food waste. Some vendors are food artisans using ancient food traditions, women/minority owned, or other small entrepreneurs that work year round and keep the local food economy cooking. You may see: fermented veggies/krauts, apple sauce, vinegars, sauces, pastas, popcorn, grains, cornmeal, flours, baking mixes, barbecue sauce, honey, sorghum molasses, jams, Virginia peanuts, nut butters, frozen corn and more. We encourage you to try these items. These are our personal favorites, we choose them carefully and hope you do too. If there is something on the pantry list you cannot eat, or don’t want to eat, a sub is always available with advance notice.
Please help us get the word out! We rely on word of mouth to sustain our business season to season. We will have paper and electronic flyers (email me) you can share starting next week, and I will do posts with links. Mark needs people to flyer and he will pay (contact him 804-397-7337)If you share paper, do so mindfully (we hate litter and so do your neighbors). Please post us on your neighborhood listserves and facebook groups. Anyone who signs up that uses your name in referral earns you $25 . If you know of a fall fair, or other event we can bring the FarmBus to, let us know!

So Join Today and Eat Well all Winter. We appreciate you and your families and your choice to eat local. Email us with questions.

SaveSave

What’s in the Share – Week of 7/16 – Deep summer deliciousness

CSA Farm Share, CSA/Farm Market, Get Educated, Get Involved, Local Food, Recipes No Responses »

Jul 162017

We congratulate Omar Flores and his wife on the birth of their new baby, who joins their two year old. The share list is late this week because of the birth! We wish mama and baby vibrant health and many blessings. Baby is super cute and I hope to have a picture to share with you soon.

I have 2 shares to sell for members who are moving:

5x biweekly full share with fruit add-on which would either this week 7/18 for EM/Richmond, or next week, 7/25, all locations, for $675.

I also have 2x shares of produce and choice of either meat or dairy for $158- this also makes a great gift. Member fees waived. If people are interested, they need to email me farmshares@thefarmbus.com, and I will manually set them up.

Thanks everyone and happy cooking.

Suzi

Here is what is in the share, subject to change:
orange cherry tomatoes
fairy tale eggplant
green onions
bitter melon – used in Asian medicine for a host of benefits. Here’s what Dr. Axe says. And recipes.
colored peppers
tomatillos – My tomatillos this year were volunteers, and are a huge patch in the middle of the yard. They are awesome!! We put them in all sorts of things, and love to make raw salsa verde, ready in moments by putting in the blender, or you can get all fancy and grill your peppers like Jamie Oliver. Here are a bunch of other ways to use it.
string beans
baby celery – one of my favorite things. you’ll never want to use store celery again.
Austrian crescent fingerling potatoes from Dominic Carpin
sweet jalapenos
carrots
peaches
corn
cantaloupe or blackberries

fruit – blackberries, raspberries, peaches

meats – ground bison, pork chops, polyface breakfast sausage

Bread – mixed

Cheese – Eberly Farms Stonewall

What’s in the Share – Week of 5/22/17

CSA Farm Share, CSA/Farm Market, Get Educated, Get Involved, Local Food, Recipes No Responses »

May 212017

Hi Members –

We are getting into summer holidays. Some of you may be away for your share – don’t forget to hold. When you put your share on hold via your dashboard, please send me an email letting me know how you wish to redeem that held share: move to another week, credit or donate. Held shares do not automatically get moved to the next time – I need to hear from you to know what to do with it. You can also give your shares to friends – but let me know. Thanks!

There are a few things in the share that look similar – dill, chamomile and baby fennel. Ive posted some pictures in the FB group, along with extra recipes.

Here’s what we anticipate to be in your share this week – subject to change. Often what we think will be in the share changes by the time Thursday rolls around. Mark often gives you extras of things. I hope you are enjoying it all.

PRODUCE

dill – feathery fronds – wonderful to add to salad, or vinaigrette. Here are some ideas.
tomatoes – zucchini noodles with raw tomato sauce
chamomile – like tiny daisies, with feathery fronds. might look like this – with the yellow center of the dairy most pronounced.
- Chamomile — so many neat things you can do: fresh tea is amazing, but you can use it in ice cream – here’s a vegan salted caramel chamomile version, make simple syrup, put it in cocktails, add it to salads, crostini, chop fine and add to yogurt like you would with dill. bake a cake here’s ideas. Here’s some health and beauty things you can do.
onions – Sicilian onion and tomato salad
purple kohlrabi – this looks a little like a purple spaceship. Part bulb, part bundle of greens, kohlrabi may seem like one of the more intimidating items at the farmers’ market, but it offers a delightful combination of familiar tastes. Kohlrabi has the texture of a radish and the sweetness of jicama, with a slight hint of broccoli, and the edible leaves are like a milder version of collards. It is super versatile. Here are some ideas.
zucchini – grill it
strawberries –strawberry gazpacho, balsamic strawberries with ricotta cream. Its easy to make ricotta at home, and a good way to use milk, if you are having trouble getting thru it. strawberry cocktails.
baby fennel – feathery fronds with a bulb. Smells like mild anise or licorice. My favorite way is in an Italian simple salad, shaved thin, with olive oil, squeeze of lemon, orange slices (blood orange is delicious), salt and pepper. You can add cheese, olives, dill, onions etc. I also love to roast it, or grill it.
bok choy – 9 ways
- Bok choy – bok choy with garlic
asparagus – slow butter braised asparagus with parmesan
pea shoots – these will have leaves, and tendrils. Treat like any green. They are delicious. Here is a guide.
beets – these have a red bulb, and greens. Use your greens early – cut them off and sauté – put the steps in first as they take longer than the leaves. sauteed beet greens with olive oil and garlic. roasted beets with dill, beet salad with dill and lemon
daikon radish – this looks like a white carrot. It is super versatile, and can be subbed for turnips. I like to make easy refrigerator pickles with it. Here are some ideas.
romaine – grill it. Its fantastic.

Fruit

strawberries – strawberries with balsamic vinegar (and blueberries!) swap the sugar with honey or maple syrup for a healthier option.
blueberries

Meat – Weekly people I do not know what the meat will be yet. Will try to send out an email as soon as Mark knows so you can plan – so sorry.

Biweeklies – this is what you might expect.

pork short ribs
trout filet (2 filets in the pack)
Sausage Craft Sat Nite Sausage – with Sriracha and beer (gluten alert)

Bread

Billy Bread — this is also lovely in grliled tomato bread salad and gazpacho!

Cheese – TBD

Happy Cooking!

Suzi

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Comments

Comment on Southside Outpost to Close Sunday, June 9 by James Shelton
I wish there was a way to keep it open.
James Shelton
Comment on Southside Outpost to Close Sunday, June 9 by Nancy
So very sorry to hear of the closing!!! Take care, you two - especially Suzi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nancy
Comment on Pan-Fried Fennel by Nancy
I just saw The CBN broadcast that reported on the wonderful work you're doing in Virginia! I would like to know if there's an opportunity to make a donation towards the work you're doing. Please let me know as well as many others, as I'm sure there are others out there that would love to […]
Nancy
Comment on 2013 Spring / Summer CSA Farm Shares – Richmond, VA, and Washington, DC by Caroline
Are you still doing Eastern Market on Tuesday evenings? I was looking for the truck on April 9th and 16th and didn't see anyone or anything that appeared to be affiliated with the CSA.
Caroline
Comment on TEDxMANHATTAN — Challenge Finalists! Help Mark get on stage to talk about food! by Suzi Lilly
Hi There -- We don't do a drop in Arlington yet, but we do have many people who live there who come to one of our drops in DC -- We do Eastern Market on Capitol Hill, and NW at the Maret School. Let me know if you have questions and concerns and thanks for […]
Suzi Lilly