Gorman Farm Seems To Have Hit Its Stride; The Share That I Got To Sample Was A Real Gift

Cucumbers sliced and seasoned into kimchi

Gorman Produce Farm seems to have really hit its stride.  Check it out if you want local vegetable adventures.

When I started blogging, I thought that I was going to become entranced by community-supported agriculture.  That's a CSA where you pay a farm's fee at the start of the season, then get a weekly share from the harvest.  In the plan, you get great vegetables, and you get surprises to inspire you.

But I never clicked.  Mostly, it's just that my cooking never got inspired by a box of surprises.  I felt bad when I left something unused, and my mind always ran to menus that required a grocery run to augment the CSA box.  But, in part, I don't think I had the best CSAs.  I did two, both when the farms were new.  Farming is hard.  I got some rough produce and some piles of pedestrian stuff.

Gorman Produce Farm in Laurel changed their model a year or two ago.  They closed their daily farm stand.  Now they just sell through a CSA, and I was lucky enough to sample last month when our friends went away on vacation.  The full share that I picked up in Gorman's barn was an absolute delight.

Spinach, parsley, squash, onions, eggplant, cucumbers, garlic flowers and on and on and on.  I filled two large bags with the full share, and the vegetables blew me away.  They were crisp, fresh and full of flavor.  Mostly, I did simple stuff.  Sauteed the spinach.  Made salad with the lettuce.  But I turned the cucumbers into a Korean kimchi oi-sobagi using Maangchi's cookbook that I need to review in the future.

Monday I steamed Gorman's eggplant that had been in my fridge for at least 10 days.  The eggplant was pristine.  That's amazing for any vegetables.  That tells me that the Gorman folks are able to concentrate on the CSA now -- planning their harvests and caring for the vegetables so that customers get premium supplies.

The Gorman Produce Farm website seems to say you can still sign up for a 2017 share.  I don't know the details.  But definitely check it out, maybe for 2017, maybe for next year.  I don't know that CSAs work for my life right now, but it's not many developed suburbs that have an organic farm sitting right in their midst.

Gorman Produce Farm is right off Rte 29 on Gorman Road.  It's really easy to reach from anywhere in Columbia and for anyone who commutes south towards DC.