Apple Picking in Elijay, Georgia

Have I mentioned that fall is my favorite season? Well, it is. I think it's living in north Georgia that tipped me over the edge into a fall lover, because I don't remember being this excited for September and October before I lived in Roswell. Part of the appeal of fall is all the outdoor activities I can partake in now that summer's sweltering, sticky heat is done. Cool autumnal days feel wonderful after sweating your way through July and August and my allergies don't bother as much as they do during the spring pollen-stravaganza.

One of my favorite fall activities is getting apples in Elijay. You want to hear this story? You definitely want the story. So one year, me and a friend went to the Elijay Apple Festival. If you haven't been, it's next weekend. You should go. It's a fun mountain arts and crafts festival with a fall, apple theme. And you can buy fresh, local apples by the bushel. But bushels are heavy. There are only so many two tiny women can carry on their own. So the next year, we really sold it hard to our husbands and made it sound like the trip of a life time. So we get there and the guys look around and realize the planned activities for the day include looking at apple shaped candles we don't intend to buy and carrying things for us. My husband walked over to the nearest corn dog stand, angrily ate one, and then announced that he had done everything worth doing there and we were getting in the car to go to Oktoberfest in Helen.

But he still carried an extra bushel of apples for me.

Anyways, the next year I wanted to do something fun and fall themed in the mountains again. Jimmy agreed to go apple picking instead of the Apple Festival. And you know what? We both liked it enough we did it again today.

There's several u-pick orchards in Elijay, several of them clustered together on GA 52. We like BJ Reece Apple House, but I think you'll have a good time at any of them. BJ Reece also features a petting zoo, tractor ride and apple cannon in addition to the apple trees. For $14, we were able to wandered the orchard, full of dwarf varieties of various apple varietals (how's THAT for alliteration?) and pick what we wanted off the trees. We bought the full peck bag, which you just fill until you can't cram any more into it. Not the cheapest apples you'll buy, but they are right off the tree and so tasty.

BJ Reece also has a farm store that sells already picked apples, vegetables, local honey and baked goods. The apple fried pies smelled amazing today, but my husband's glucose has been running high lately, so we skipped it.


Do I recommend BJ Reece? Absolutely. They have a great variety and the orchard is big and easy to navigate. I plan to be back next fall to make my husband carry more apples for me.

Like my poorly lit iPhone pictures? I'm on Flickr now! You can see more of my apple picking pictures here! And you can like me on Facebook!

Moss Hill Farm CSA

"So what have you concocted today, Mrs. Liang?" one of my coworkers asks me as I settle into a long cafeteria table with a group of my students. School policy is that staff eats with their students every day. The kids bustle around me, pulling out peanut butter sandwiches and baggies of potato chips. My coworkers know that I cook and I'm happy to talk about my food (Obviously).

I take the lid off my piping-hot-from-the-microwave bowl of soup and say "Gumbo. I have more okra than I know what to do with in my CSA box this week, so gumbo." I help someone open a difficult container and remind one of the girls that we don't run laps around the tables, even if you're really, really good at it.

"Oh you have a CSA? I want to know more about that."Another teacher says just before biting into her salad.

What's a CSA? It stands for "Community Supported Agriculture". Basically, you pay a farmer upfront for his or her harvest that season. Then, once a week, you o to the farm and pick up your "share" of the harvest. The farmer gets reliable income and you get delicious, farm fresh veggies. Win!

We subscribe to Moss Hill Farm in Milton, Georgia, which is owned and managed by Floyd Keisler. We first met Floyd when he sold us heirloom tomatoes at the Riverside Farmers Market. Floyd is a really warm and friendly guy, so we always enjoyed stopping by his booth to pick out Cherokee Purples. But after a few seasons, Floyd's CSA business took off and he quit coming. At first we were sad. But then we realized that we could just subscribe to Floyd and still chat with him and get some of the best veggies we ever ate.

We tend to subscribe in the fall and winter when the Farmers Markets aren't in session. Why? Because we like to pick our own food and just buy what we feel like eating. You can't do that with a CSA. You bought all of it, whether or not you like it. One winter, we ended up with something like five heads of bok choi every week. It was overwhelming and my husband still looks askance at it when it shows up in our box. So that's a downside.

Another downside is that a CSA requires effort. It's not just going to the farm to pick up the vegetables. Plants grow in dirt, right? And that dirt needs to be washed off. You can also expect the occasional critter to come home, hidden in your bundle of kale and for your veggies to be less than perfect looking sometimes. If you're only used to pre-washed and bagged greens and shiny, perfectly tasteless tomatoes, this can freak you out a little bit. Just hum Elton John's "Circle of Life" to yourself and relax.  But we're still doing a "half share" right now, with pick up every two weeks, just so I can have a break from washing and chopping.

I find that having a CSA makes me more creative in the kitchen and willing to try new recipes. I had bok choi tonight and I had tofu. I could have just stir fried them together like I normally would, but my wok needs re seasoning. So instead I made tofu and greens soup. Without those limitations, I would have had a boring dinner. Instead, I tried a new recipe. It's like when we started buying at Farmers Markets. We used to just eat frozen peas and canned corn for dinner every night. Now I'm eating a wider variety of food and experimenting. This week's basket included kale, tomatoes, onions, okra, cucumbers, two varieties of lettuce, bok choi and japanese eggplant.

We did a cost breakdown when we first subscribed and while it's steep upfront, the weekly price for veggies is quite reasonable and comparable to buying everything every week at a market or grocery store.

I've sort of dwelled on the downsides here, but overall, I enjoy the experience of having a CSA. I like the variety and the creativity that goes with it. I like having a relationship with the people who feed me. There's also a definite "cool" factor to it. I highly recommend looking into a CSA. Many are listed on LocalHarvest.org, but sometimes those listings haven't been updated in awhile. So you can always try my route and develop a relationship with a vendor you like at a Farmers Market.  If committing to six to eight weeks sounds a little much, Moore's Farm & Friends lets you order week by week, but they are more of a collective than a true CSA.

Anyways, there's the breakdown of CSAs and my experience with them. I hope you find this useful!

Like my poorly lit iPhone pictures? I'm on Flickr now! And you can like me on Facebook! Here's my Moss Hill Farms pictures!

Easy Leek Potato Soup with Yogurt

The last few months have seen me ridiculously busy. I've been working two part time jobs, going to grad school and chairing a fantasy literature convention. But as of yesterday, I've finished all my school work for this term (I'm on a self paced program via Western Governors University. I finished approximately two months ahead of schedule according to my pacing guide. I'll just add more classes later this week so I can get my Masters in Special Education just that much faster.), my convention was two weeks ago and for the first time in a long time, I find myself with nothing more pressing this afternoon than reading and updating my sorely out of date blog. It's kinda nice.

After some fitful half starts, spring is truly underway here in Roswell and it is glorious. The awful storms from last week have given way to warm afternoons, low humidity and light breezes. Even the pollen isn't so bad today. I'm typing this on my netbook from the back porch. With spring has also come fresh produce from farm stands and the Alpharetta Farmer's Market. My husband and I have been a little giddy at the prospect of fresh fruit and vegetables, straight from the ground, instead of the limp, pale imitations we've endured all winter.

The primary source of our spring time bounty has been a farm stand run by Floyd Kessler of Moss Hill Farm, in Milton. Every week, Floyd sends out a cheerful email update with pictures of the produce having equal weight with those of his grandchildren. We've been buying from Floyd for several years now, usually through the Roswell Farmers Market. This year, we're ordering from Floyd directly and picking up our vegetables at his charming farm every Saturday.

This week's haul includes two pounds of joi choi, an Asian greens stir fry mix, green onions so large and heavy you could club a man to death with them, and a leek. I could not recall if I'd ever eaten a leek before, so I only ordered one for this week. Today it became a delicious potato leek soup. I liked it. Leeks now have a place at my table.

1 leek, cleaned and chopped, about a cup
1/4 cup spring onion, cleaned and chopped
2 cups potatoes, diced
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
1/4 yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in pan. Add leeks, onions, cook until soft and translucent. Add potatoes and enough water to cover. Simmer until potatoes are soft. Add milk and yogurt, use immersion blender to combine and puree ingredients. Add generous pinches of salt and pepper. (I actually salt at every step of this recipe, and still needed to add a big pinch here.) Simmer gently for five minutes to combine flavors, and serve.

This soup is tangy and delicious, and is slightly lighter than the one I converted using whipping cream and buttermilk. The leeks and onions give it a nice flavor, and the potatoes add body. Over all, it's a good soup and one I'd make again. I highly suggest getting on Floyd's mailing list so you can try it yourself.