[Sca-cooks] Seasonal Foods

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

 I just got the first box of produce from our new MellowBellies food co-op.
This is all organic, and all from local growers, bought by folks within a
3-mile radius of my house, middle of downtown Atlanta.  Each week the box
contains 25 dollars worth of produce that is available at it's peak.  Lots
of folks who did this last year (the first year) said it was really nice to
have the enforced variety, and to eat really seasonally.  I thought I'd
share the list to show what's in season right now (for North Georgia).

Curly leaf lettuce
Red lettuce (best looking head I've ever seen)
Mustard greens
large bag arugula - very hot and pungent so that I was initially put off of
it, but it was delicious sauteed with some olive oil and garlic, sprinkled
with tamari
Peas in the pod
strawberries - small and sweet, completely red (no white under the stem)
exactly what a strawberry should taste like
radishes - small red and white


Lots of leafy greens, no melons yet (which is good, considering how
under-ripe the ones I bought at the farmer's market last week were).  They
also have eggs and cheese available, and a lady that is offering 3 varieties
of home-baked bread each week.  The 'season' runs for 32 weeks, right into
December.  If I weren't going to be gone for Pennsic, I'd be able to buy 31
weeks for 20 dollars a box, or I can order 4 weeks at a time for 22.50.  I'm
splitting my box with a friend, so I'm getting half of it for 13.00.  I'm
going to try and eat some of everything that comes my way.  I didn't think
I'd like the arugula (especially after tasting it raw), but it was quite
tasty when sauteed.  I'm not exactly looking forward to okra season, I
understand there was quite a lot of it last year.  But, I figure it will
never be any better or fresher than this, so I should expand my vegetable
horizons as much as possible with this opportunity.
For those of you still getting snowed on, have no fear, Spring is on its
way!
Christianna