Community Supported Agriculture

My husband and I have talked a number of times about subscribing to a CSA for produce and fruit. CSA stands for community supported agriculture and involves buying boxes usually monthly but receiving goods weekly that are grown on farms in your area. To find a farm we first googled: CSA, Santa Rosa and were led to this page: http://find.mapmuse.com/re1/map_brand_mm2.php?brandID=CSA&init=38.4377708487303,-122.712411778317,11&tlist=CSA,
This gave us choices for CSA-participating farms, where they were located and links to more information.
We signed up for one small box per week from Valley End Farm here in Santa Rosa. Baby girl and I went and picked up our first box on Tuesday. There was quite a bounty inside: eggplant, zukes, roma and cherry tomatoes, chard, purple bell peppers, crane melon, wax beans, radishes, sage..I think that was it. I was making a beef stew and added quite a few things right from the box. As the seasons change we will have what's growing in sonoma county which is cool for several reasons:
1) It will help me be more of a creative cook, using produce that I have tried before and some that are totally new to me.
2) I will be buying from a completely organic and sustainable farm and only have to make one short car trip to get a whole box of food there.
3) Our daughter will be able to see where our food comes from as she gets older.
4) Lots of veggies are GREAT for a healthy diet.
I am really looking forward to next week's box.
*The free-range,frisky resident chickens and roosters were pretty entertaining, too.

Making homemade baby food with lots of love

I love making food for my baby girl. With the exception of grains, tofu and yogurt, I make all of my girl's food. I love going to: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ and getting ideas for really nutritious, organic purees and finger foods. This website has given me the confidence to whip up creations for our baby.
Something that I am really excited about that jarred baby food doesn't seem to provide much of is eating seasonal foods. I think that it helps create a bank of memories and sensory experiences to eat the fruits and veggies that are growing locally. It also is better for the environment as the foods are grown nearby and not shipped from Exotic places. We have had lots of pumpkin sweet potato with cinnamon and ginger, yams, zucchini and squashes boiling on the stove lately and it is just heaven. The leaves are falling outside and we are inside with our baby eating delicious comfort foods. Pureed apples and pears have been a big favorite mixed with yogurt and wheat germ.
Since our baby girl is still under 10 months we haven't had a chance to try spinach and chard in her food (too high in nitrites for under 10 months) but hopefully she will have some pureed soon.
As we are trying a lot of new finger foods our girl is eating chopped banana dusted in wheat germ, sauteed tofu dusted in wheat germ, slightly cooled hard-boiled egg yolk, cottage cheese, Oatios (organic version of cheerios plus more protein) and vanilla teething biscuits: http://www.healthytimes.com/htbabybiscuits.htm.
With lots of new foods comes a little more gas as our girl is prone to it already. I am making her weak teas of fresh ginger and chamomile to ease the tummy ache.
It feels really good to know that in addition to breast milk, the food I make for Maya is clean, healthy and organic.