Monthly Archives: May 2012

After champing at the bit all last week, nearly crazed with eagerness, I went out in the rain on Monday afternoon and pulled

• 7 lbs of lettuce (15 heads, 5 different varieties),
• 2 lbs of arugula,
• 30 beets, and
• 20 green onions

out of the garden, to make the first delivery for our super-small, super-experimental CSA (photo above is not the half of it!). It was immensely gratifying, after having waited so long. And to be honest, going out there today, you can hardly tell any’s missing.

I was, however, completely surprised by how different it feels to go into the garden to pick food for oneself (“In the mood for beet chips? Let’s go pull a few beets!”) or a friend (“Hey, do you want me to cut you a few heads of lettuce to take home?”), versus how it feels to pick food for other people– I was suddenly terrified that the lettuce would be dirty or wilty and I hadn’t noticed, or that a few holes in the arugula would be deal-breakers. Here’s hoping that I’ll grow out of this odd sort of vanity as the weeks of the season wear on.