Eating Seasonally in the Northeast

Eating seasonally here in northwest Connecticut never gets boring or rote. Something exciting that we haven't eaten in months is always around the corner. It's hard to beat the immersive sensory experience of tasting the first lettuce out of the ground in spring or the first ripe tomato off the vine in summer. We wait and we wait for our favorite veggies to arrive, and when they do, we are transported and awakened by their flavors and textures. And there is no better way to get that experience than with a CSA share!

A CSA share represents a mix of the crops that are fresh the week of harvest. ​Light leafy greens are the first to emerge in spring until the juicy, sweet crops of summer mature. Heavy roots and winter squash are finally ready in fall and we can store some of them into winter like onions, potatoes, cabbage and... everyone's favorite... turnips!

At Adamah we do our best to plan our field plantings with the goal of having the most balanced shares possible in each season. Every week includes one herb that is freshly available at that time of year; something in the onion family (chives, scallions and garlic scapes in spring; fresh garlic and fresh sweet onions in summer; storage onions, garlic, and leeks in fall); and then as close to a mix of roots, leaves, and fruits as the season will allow. We plan our plantings with balance of shares in mind, attempting to have carrots as early in spring as possible to balance out all the lettuce, kale, chard, and other greens. We try to keep greens going as long through the hot summer as we can but they aren't as tasty as they are in cooler weather so we focus the shares more on what's incredible that time of year- tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc. In the fall we bring the greens back to compliment the heavier roots and squash.

Check out this Connecticut produce seasonality chart to get a sense of what is often available when, although of course our farm is unique and we don't grow all of the crops listed.

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