However, there are several foods I’ve tried where I’d be fine not eating again. Among those are squash, zucchini, kohlrabi, and kale. But now that we belong to a local CSA (community supported agriculture), I’m eating outside my comfort zone.

When I normally go to the store during the winter, I usually gravitate toward vegetables like cucumbers, peppers, cherry tomatoes, arugula, and the like. This year instead of purchasing all my vegetable at New Seasons, I’m relying on my every-other-week pick up of farm fresh produce.

I was surprised that we can actually grow things here in the winter. I thought our climate to harsh and cold to facilitate harvesting. But I’m very much mistaken. Here’s an example of what we’ve received in the last three months: potatoes, carrots, cabbage, squash, turnips, black radishes, rosemary, romanesco, onions, garlic, Brussels sprouts, rutabagas, leafy greens, and even some zucchini. While some of these vegetables are kept in cold storage, many are harvested that day and still have dirt clinging to their roots.

These are all vegetables I tend to avoid – some more than others. But what has really surprised me is how good they all are. The carrots are smaller and ten times sweeter than anything we can buy in the store. Brussels sprouts that have survived a frost actually taste better than those that are basking in the sun in California. Romanesco has become my new favorite vegetable (Pixie, our cat, likes it too) with its crazy fractal shape. Several varieties of potatoes have crossed our plates in mashed, sautéed, roasted, and fried form. I’ve even eaten two kinds of squash – my sworn nemesis from the vegetable world. And I actually liked it.

Who knew these vegetables were so good? Okay, maybe people have tried to convince me in the past but I wouldn’t listen.

I love the idea of a CSA – buying a share of a farm’s harvest. I know I’m getting the freshest, highest quality produce that hasn’t had to travel around the world to get to my table. And I trust our farmer who likes to use draft horses, instead of tractors, to plow her fields. I feel better about what I put into my body because I know where it comes from.

Just before 5:00 PM every other Thursday, Geoffroy and I drive out the farm – just 10 minutes away. Who knew there were farms in Lake Oswego?! We bring our reusable grocery bag and walk into the barn. Most of the time we’re greeted by the two fat barn cats who call it home, hungry for attention and scratching. On a chalkboard overhead is written what we’re picking up and how much. We start at one end of the table and pick out the best, testing the vegetables for ripeness and weight. We often stop and have a few words with Laura Masterson, the farmer, and then head on our merry way.

Because most of the vegetables will keep, we often spread our harvest over two weeks. Each meal we’ll choose one or two to grace our plates.

I love this type of eating. It makes me feel closer to the land, and I know I’m getting the very best.

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