Woodland Gardens

We have been doing a produce box from Woodland Gardens, a certified organic farm in Winterville, GA, since April of 2013.  Each week, we are given a huge supply of beautiful, organic fruits and vegetables.  I love this box, but as with anything that is worth it, there has been a huge learning curve for me and the family.

My boys are good vegetable eaters.  They will eat carrots, broccoli, green beans, corn, peas, sweet potatoes, "magic leaves" aka raw spinach, etc.  (The carrots that come in the box are out of this world.  They honestly taste different than the carrots from the grocery store.  Less carroty if that makes any sense... Just a sweet, refreshing crunch.)  I have cooked their veggies in very basic ways, and now they really don't like anything fancy.  Easy enough for a weeknight dinner!  But I quickly realized I had no idea how to introduce a turnip or radish and make it appealing to them (or myself for that matter).  They are not excited to get out of their comfort zones, and a "no thank you bite" is often a teeny tiny nibble.  Challenge 1 - how to broaden the family's horizons.

Challenge 2 - how to make the most of the box.  Initially, a good portion of our box was not being used appropriately.  That's putting it nicely because I can't believe how wasteful I was being.  I would bring the box home on Tuesday nights and put everything in the fridge.  Most of the lettuces would wilt.  I would forget what we had, or just avoid it because I had no idea what to do with it, until I decide to discard it because we had no room for the next box's contents.

Thankfully, my mom introduced me to the bread bag.  I finally realized that Tuesday nights were going to be kitchen nights for me.  I HAVE to clean and store everything properly.  I use these great little storage bags to house all of the lettuces, leeks, anything leafy that could wilt or get droopy.  I also found a great lettuce keeper box at TJ Maxx that works great.  I do reuse the bags.  I make sure to dry them out and then reuse them the next week.  These bags have prolonged the life of our vegetables!  See the Treviso Radicchio?  Last April, that bundle would not have stood a chance.  Now, I have big plans for a radicchio gratin...  If it turns out I will post an update!

I am proud (and humbled) that we are finally using all that comes in our box.  It took me a while to get a routine going and figure out what to do with all the variety.  Now that I have it down, we are trying new things and at least David and I like most everything!