Eating Well: Produce

I have decided that 2012 is our year to move to organic (or at the very least IPM) fruits and vegetables. We have already made huge strides in that direction. The kids eat almost all organic produce, but I still have a weakness for cheap berries (pretty hard to resist 2 packs of strawberries for $3.99 when one pack of organic is $4.99 ... ouch). I have been pretty good about buying what's in season, but I will admit that we're not too great at buying local produce yet.

So anyway, 2012's focus is produce. 2013's focus will be seeking out good sources of meat and dairy (organic, to me, is almost meaningless when it comes to these products ... I am interested in knowing the farm well). We can't do meat til we invest in a chest freezer, and due to several expensive house projects that has to be put off til 2013.

I'm pretty serious about my goal. The first thing I did was sign up for a CSA. 25 weeks of vegetables, then 8 weeks of storage veggies in the fall, plus 22 weeks of fruit. It adds up to about $21/week on produce ... more than we were spending before, but we weren't eating as much produce as we should have been anyway. The farms are in Lancaster, PA, so that's very local! Obviously it will all be in season, too. Another nice perk is that this CSA comes with membership to a co-op that you can use to place orders for meat and dairy that can be delivered to your CSA pick-up location. I haven't gotten a chance to check pricing yet, but it might be useful for eggs at least.

Now that the kids are older, we can start going to the farmer's market (5 minutes from here), too. I am excited for that.

We are also transforming our yard from weird-previous-owner's obsession with oriental grasses and invasive vines to a yard that can produce food for us. Last year we planted a raspberry bush that has started spreading in a back corner of the yard. I would like that whole area to become raspberry bushes. I have great memories of gathering raspberries at my grandparents' house.

This year we are planting 3 different blueberry bushes, 2 dwarf apple trees, 1 dwarf cherry tree, and wild alpine strawberries. They shipped out on Friday from a very reputable organic nursery, and we will be planting them some time this week.

I found an awesome website called smartgardener.com that takes your zip code, type of garden bed, orientation of your garden, plants you want, etc. and creates a plan with weekly to do lists. I have already planted my carrots. Next week I'll add the lettuce, then the bush beans, and much later the tomato seedlings. I plan on getting my herbs going in the next few weeks as well. I even have my winter garden planned out.

This goal has been fun so far because I really enjoy gardening and am not awful at it. :)

Organic vegetables and fruits

It would be great if I could buy all organic produce, but it's simply not reasonable. First of all, you can't easily find everything organic. Even if you go to Whole Foods you won't find every type of fruit/veggie in an organic option, and Whole Foods is kind of far from my house. Secondly, organic produce is almost always more expensive (particularly at the grocery store). This will be a very difficult switchover for me because I love a good bargain. Strawberries for $2? Um, yes!

A general rule of thumb for what to purchase organic involves considering the skin of the fruit or vegetable. Is it hard/inedible (like a melon rind or orange peel)? Buy the regular stuff. Is it soft/tender or do you eat the skin? Buy it organic. Tomatoes are a great example of a thin skin that you eat.

A couple of helpful lists:
Dirty Dozen (worst first)
1) Apples
2) Celery
3) Strawberries
4) Peaches
5) Spinach
6) Nectarines (imported)
7) Grapes (imported)
8) Sweet bell peppers
9) Potatoes
10) Blueberries (domestic)
11) Lettuce
12) Kale/collard greens

Clean 15 (best first)
1) Onions
2) Sweet corn
3) Pineapples
4) Avocado
5) Asparagus
6) Sweet peas
7) Mango
8) Eggplant
9) Cantaloupe (domestic)
10) Kiwi
11) Cabbage
12) Watermelon
13) Sweet potatoes
14) Grapefruit
15) Mushrooms

Those are long lists and kind of make my head spin! Here is a wallet-size card you can download for easy reference (link on left side). There's apparently an app for it, too, since there's an app for everything these days.

The rule of thumb I mentioned above holds true for 100% of the dirty dozen (if you eat potato skins) and for 10 of the clean 15. The full list is worth a look, too, but if it all gets jumbled in your mind then just try to remember the rule of thumb.

This year we had a trial vegetable/fruit garden. Things I liked growing included cilantro, raspberries, tomatoes, italian green beans, spinach, and basil. I love tomatoes and find homegrown ones to be vastly superior in flavor. Our beans were delicious, the spinach was easy and flavorful, the herbs were no issue, and the raspberries grow wild and spread quickly.

Things I still haven't decided whether I'll repeat include cucumbers, zucchini (both are very unruly and this stresses me out ... neat rows are my thing), peppers, carrots, and radishes. Things I definitely will not waste time growing again include onions (way easier to buy), strawberries and sugar snap peas (getting a couple berries/peas every so often isn't worth it). Next year I will definitely have a potted herb garden of parsley, mint, basil, and cilantro and maybe thyme because we use those herbs so often when we cook. It has been great going out to the garden to snip cilantro or basil whenever we need it.

Strides I've made at the grocery store:
1) Switched to buying organic canned tomato products (for sauces)
2) Bought organic potatoes, carrots, spinach and leeks for recipes this week

Still can't quite let go of the $2 strawberries ... maybe one day. Every little bit helps though.