Dinosaur Egg, or Melon?

In today's box...Pretty sure it's a melon--but if it IS a live dinosaur egg, our blog will have a pretty impressive scoop, eh?

"Just about perfect in every way"

The online local news site Redondo Beach Patch has a story about the Madison/Lincoln Tanaka Farms CSA programs this weekend. Reporter Joe Galliani interviewed Philip Jun at Neighborhood Grinds, and took photos of a box's contents, and explained how the program works and how others can join in. "As much as I love and use our local Farmers Market, this mutually supportive relationship between the farm and elementary schools is just about perfect in every way," Galliani declares.

Inventory and recipe idea for July 15

Penny wrote that her large box contained, "kale, eggplant, tomatoes, basil, oranges, grapefruit, lettuce, carrots, green beans, avocados, and four cobs of corn."

Sounds like it is time to make baba ganoush, a middle-eastern eggplant dip.  Here's a recipe and you can  buy tahini at both of the middle eastern markets near Neighborhood Grinds (the NE and SW corners of McKay and Artesia).

Backyard Garden CSA

Don't miss this article about a 14-year old Michigan teen, Alexandra Reau.

last year, she asked her dad to dig up a half acre of their lawn in rural Petersburg, Mich., so she could farm. Now in its second season, her Garden to Go C.S.A. (community-supported agriculture) grows for 14 members, who pay $100 to $175 for two months of just-picked vegetables and herbs.

While attending a party in north Berkeley in the mid 1980s, I noticed the extremely lush vegetable garden in the backyard. When I asked which roommate had the green thumb, the host explained that the yard was leased to Alice Waters and Chez Panisse. Her staff gardened yards all over the neighborhood; the chefs came over to harvest produce right before cooking!

I am tempted to rip out my front lawn and put in a veggie garden.  The 4'x8' raised bed in the backyard is not enough.