Its hard to believe that its almost August, which means that summer will be winding down before we know it! And while its nice to daydream about the cooler days and night of autumn on a day like today,  it will also mean a slowdown for all the great local summer produce that is currently available in our area.

This summer, Clean Currents has taken advantage of the bounty and supported local farmers in a couple of ways. First,  a number of us have joined the Norman’s Farm Market CSA . CSA stands for “community supported agriculture” and its a really great way to support local agriculture. When you sign up for a CSA, you are basically buying a share of the farm and get to take a certain mixture of the available produce from the farm on a regular basis. Our CSA pick-up is once a week at the Universities of Shady Grove where Norman’s Farm sets up a mini stand with a choice of fresh goodies. Each week,  we get to pick fruits and veggies we want to feast on for the week. We’ve had some amazing corn, zuchinni, plums, blueberries, kale and melon in the last couple of weeks.

Its also been really fun to share the creative recipes we’ve come up with during our impromptu Monday morning CSA round-up. There’s been talk (and tastings) of  garlicky-kale dip, some strawberry rhubarb bread, and a lovely zuchinni-walnut pasta.

In addition to our weekly CSA share, we’re lucky to have the Rockville farmer’s market right in our backyard every Wednesday. We’ve been stopping to pick up delicious peaches, nectarines, apples, and fresh lettuces.

On a few Wednesdays, we’ve had our own table set up to tell shoppers about how they can support wind power.  In fact, the Clean Currents team has been making our way around a number of farmer’s makets and CSA pick ups in the area including Tikvat Israel CSA,  Geneva Presbyterian CSA and the 14th & U Farmers Market.

And of course, Clean Currents loves the local food options avaialble at some of our favorite restaruants. Think Local First’s Eat Local First Week last week, which culminated in the Farm to Street Party was a great way to celebrate fresh and tasty local flavors.  Our table at the Farm to Street part got a ton of traffic (local foodies love wind power!) and we got to mingle with some of the restaurants that support wind power including: The Diner, Busboys and Poets, Eatonville and Local 16.  A staff favorite was Eatonsville’s Blueberry Lemonade – perfect on a scorching summer day! Overall the whole event was a great way to engage with other local food advocates and as our Marketing Associate, Nicole,  so eloquently put it:

“One great theme here is that food brings us closer to people, and that connection might be more important today than it ever has been”

This weekend, Clean Currents will be at the 14th & U Farmer’s Market (Saturday) and hanging out at Open City during Sunday Brunch – come stop by and say hi! And if you mention this blog post, we’ll give you a reusable bag to tote your goodies from the Farmers Market.