Recommended Book: One Minute to Midnight, by Michael Dobbs

I bought a copy of One Minute to Midnight at the Everglades book store following our wonderful tour of the Homestead Nike Site, which piqued my interest in the Cuban missile crisis. Writing in the mid-2000s, Washington Post journalist Michael Dobbs was able to access many declassified documents and to interview key participants who had once been unwilling or unable to discuss the events of October 1962.  Dobbs' scholarly technique (the book is exceedingly well-cited) and journalistic style are well-balanced, and he manages to create a suspenseful page-turner about an event with an exceedingly well-known outcome.

★★★★★

Things that Feel Weird

Trees. TV. Gloriously heated and well-lit public spaces. Traffic lights. Traffic. Readily available food not-prepared-by-me.

Also, sitting in a barber shop. I am the only woman in sight, and I feel that I have thrown off the balance of the world.

Full Circle Farm Review

Every Thursday, we eagerly await a box of organic fruits and vegetables from Full Circle Farm.

 

We get the “Garden” size box, which contains 30-40 servings, and is intended to serve a family of 3-5. Since this is our primary source of vegetables and fruits, we opted for a bigger box—and are even considering the “Harvest” box, with 45-55 servings and a greater variety. For now, though, we are able to supplement the box with canned fruits and vegetables, and vegetable-rich foods such as tomato sauce and salsa. 

Organic, but not “Local”

Full Circle is not a traditional CSA, in that it sources from a variety of organic farms in Washington, the West Coast, and Latin America. This allows for a wide variety of items available year-round. Although it would be nice, 100% local eating is obviously not feasible here, especially since there are issues with groundwater contamination.

There has recently been some doubt in the scientific community over the relative advantages of organic produce, but I’m glad that Full Circle is an organic source. Among other things, organic produce just tastes better. Placebo effect? Maybe. But a powerful one.

Selection, Customization, and Add-Ons

One thing I really like about Full Circle is how much control you have over what you get in the box. Obviously, there’s some seasonality, though not as much as you would get with a traditional CSA, given the geographic diversity of Full Circle’s supply network. But every week, there’s a list of substitutions, and you can go through and change out items in your order. Theoretically, you could get a box of just cucumbers or whatever else struck your fancy.

You can also set permanent exemptions, making sure you never receive beets or cabbage or whatever else. Thus far, I’ve not set any, because I customize the box every week, and it’s also good to branch out. For instance, cabbage isn’t something I really would have bought before, but I opted to get a red cabbage and discovered a great recipe for cole slaw. My motto when shopping and ordering is variety is king. No matter what, we’ll have a lot of repetition, but small tweaks can keep things interesting.

In that spirit, I occasionally order add-ons, such as extra fruits and vegetables, eggs, and cheese. Our first order of eggs arrived safe and sound! 

The extras add to the cost, but I think it’s worth it every now and then for variety and nutrition. Speaking of costs…