Our second CSA box came in, and with it, I've learned a few lessons.

1. I might be allergic to rainbow chard. That is, unless the stinging on my tongue and throat is perfectly normal.

2. Shell peas are not simply large snap peas. Ironically, you don't eat the shell of the shell peas. Or at least, it's not pleasant. It starts off just fine, and tastes exactly like a snap pea (you eat the entire pea pod of a snap pea), but then you discover that as the juice of the pea pod is worked out of the fibers, the fibers themselves don't break down. It's like chewing on wood chips after a while.

3. Raspberries don't always taste terrible. I don't generally like raspberries, but the ones that came with our box were so juicy and sweet, they weren't tart at all. I don't like tart. These raspberries were delicious.

In the box this time around:

July 17, 2008:
1 bunch baby fennel
1 bunch rainbow chard
1lb bag of shell peas
1 bunch green onions
2 bulbs fresh garlic
1 green bibb lettuce
1 bunch dill
1/2 pint raspberries

I have no clue what to do with all the dill and fennel we received. I'll have to figure out how to start preserving some of this stuff, so it doesn't go to waste.