Summer Musings- Salads and vegetables

It's been a hot week, the grass is turning brown, clothes are drying faster on the line than in a dryer and the gardens are loving the sun. What a difference a year makes for us in New England. Last year, it was the summer that wasn't, this year, it's the summer of sun.
This summer, we joined the local CSA ( Community Supported Agriculture) and with the warm weather, this was the year to join. Every Wednesday, I stop by a local church two doors down from the hospital and go through a line of locally grown organic vegetables, fruits and herbs. Sometimes I have to make a choice between what is available and sometimes there is no choice. We have had the best looking lettuce, spinach and greens for our salads along with vegetables that we wouldn't buy on our own. The best find so far has been Garlic Scapes, just think scallions with the garlic bite. In the past week I made pesto with the scapes and fresh basil which I then put in the middle of chicken breasts to grill. Yum, but don't stand too close, I won't be attractive to vampires with the garlic I have been eating.
On Saturday mornings, we head down to the Farmer's Market with the rest of the yuppies. (What's the deal with people bringing dogs to a Farmer's Market?) Today we brought home some local beef and crab cakes from the seafood truck, I love living so close to the ocean. After watching the movie, Food, Inc., we are slowly changing our eating habits. Buy local, buy fresh and more vegetables. Of course going to more vegetables is easier when you only have one boy left at home versus three questioning the addition of more green to their lives. After watching the movie and paying attention to the sodium in foods, it just makes sense that you can help your health by making better food choices.
#2 son has the opportunity to interview for a job in a produce section of his local grocery story, boy I hope he takes it to go along with his evening job at a restaurant. First, he would make more money and second, he will be exposed to different produce and get good deals. Funny that he has jobs around food along with my third who is making sandwiches at a local shop, wonder if my first will end up at a cupcake store in LA. Mmm, cupcake or vegetables, I know what my choice would be.