(by guest author Joanne)
To a biologist, a red wiggler is a wonderful earthworm that is an essential partner in creating healthy soil and lush fruit and vegetable crops. For me, Red Wiggler is a CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, located in the agricultural preserve in Montgomery County Maryland. I was lucky enough to purchase a season's membership for $450, which entitles me to picked- that -day, fresh fruits and vegetables each week from May to October. All the "growers" at the Red Wiggler Farm are people with developmental disabilities; the farm's motto is "creating fertile ground to nourish a healthy and inclusive community." Being a member of Red Wiggler's CSA has enabled me to have a real relationship with the people who plant, nurture and harvest my food.
This week, I drove up 270, the technology corridor of Washington DC and turned off at route 27 heading away from the rush hour traffic and in to the agri preserve to Red Wiggler CSA. I turned onto the gravel road that winds down and then slopes up to the huge barn. It's wonderfully quiet, except for birds I never hear at home. I had my Mom, Marie, who is 84, with me; we parked near the barn so she could walk inside and inspect the weeks harvest, which was bundled loosely in individual wooden crates.
This week's harvest was twice the size of the first one, on May 31. We grabbed plastic bags and collected our weeks allottment: 10 garlic scapes, a bunch of spring onions, (now twice the size of early June's bunch), radishes, long and candy striped, purple-bottomed turnips, a bunch of swiss chard with blood red stems, kurly kale, kohlrabi (we could select either the sensuous reddish purple variety or a green one. I selected the red), a bag of arugula, another bag of mixed micro-greens and a bag of fava beans.
When Mom and I got home, we tried the raw fava beans; bending the pods and bumping out the beans, which were sweet, satisfying with a little bite. I'm told they are delicious with Reggiano-Parmigiano and a glass of vino bianco. I cooked the Swiss Chard, whole, red stems on, in a little olive oil and garlic, S&P. It sizzled in the pan; I lowered the heat and it was done in 7 minutes. The chard was scrumptious, tender as baby spinach, with just a hint of bitter. The chard stems, now pink, were yummy; milder than the leaves and with that nice bit of satisfying carb taste. Past week's harvests that were most memorable were the argula salad, microgreens and sliced kohlrabi. What a fresh, crunchy, peppery tasting salad.
I am going to stop here; I'll report my next memorable dishes with the bounty from Red Wiggler.
Thanks for reading my entry and buon appetito!
Joanne (Danielle's mom)
Red Wiggler CSA
23400 Ridge Rd
Germantown MD 20876
301/ 916-2216
