My Life With The CSA. Happiness.

This morning I woke up and from the get go everything went
wrong. I thought, oh boy, this is going to be one of those days! Just grin and bear it right?

By early afternoon I remembered I needed to go to Drumlin Farm to pick up my bounty of goodies. I thought maybe I could send Wayne. I’ll just hide under a blanket and wish the day away.

I was about to give in to that self-indulgent urge when something triggered in my head. Maybe a drive on a sunny summer day up country roads to the farm would lighten my spirits. That…was a good decision.

I parked my car on the grass and as soon as I opened my door I was greeted merrily by a lovely golden retriever. He was right at my car door with tail a wagging and a big smile on his face. Yes, a smile. This was just the hello I needed.

My appearance was further announced by another happy dog with a few barks. Gerry Stephenson came out to see what the ruckus was and discovered his dog by my side welcoming me as only an animal who senses what’s needed by a human can.

I was pleased to see Gerry because I wanted to ask him about his eggs. It’s truly a wonder when you come to the barn because it’s surrounded by beautiful white chickens who are enjoying life freely outdoors. I’ve done some research in the past about the quality of our food and where it begins. And I know that a happy and well fed chicken lays a really good egg.

Unfortunately because of my late start I had missed the boat and no more eggs were available that day. Uh oh, were things going to go awry again? Gerry’s chickens that eat organic feed, their eggs are so delicious they are highly revered. And I would have to wait. Or would I?

I met James in the barn where I collect my CSA bounty of the week and he made a funny comment about the zany coloured bag I brought with me. I laughed back and said it matched my personality.

As I was leaving and petting the ever so friendly dogs who had turned my day around, James walked up to me and put a lone egg in my hand. One left over. I was going to have my beautiful egg after all. Thanks to a nice man who overheard my lament about missing the eggs this week.

I pondered this change of fate as I drove to the vet to pick up medicine for my cat who has an allergy to something every summer and ends up with a red nose. When I went to pay I was informed it was no charge.

The moral of this story? Never let a bad day get you down. Do something that makes you happy. In my case a visit to Drumlin Farm to pick up my CSA every week makes me happy. Feeds my soul in more ways than one.

Now I promised that I would share what I did with the kohlrabi. It was a recipe inspired by a lovely girl Sarah who works at the CSA.

I peeled and chopped up the kohlrabi and mixed it with the baby carrots and chopped garlic greens from that week’s CSA as well. Tossed with olive oil, some local maple syrup, fresh thyme, salt and pepper and in the oven at 400F it went. 50 minutes later we enjoyed the delicious earthiness of the vegetables as well as their innate freshly picked sweetness.

Who knew kohlrabi could make me so happy?