Our first year with the CSA involved balancing a household with two working adults one of which was completing the second year of an advanced degree at night, a toddler becoming more and more mobile each day and the usual tiny amount of food storage space in your typical NYC kitchen. We had to find a routine or the 2 pds. of zucchini, precious romaine lettuce leaves and/or 10 pounds of fruit was all gonna rot!

Over the past few weeks, I've found us slipping into last summer's routine and thought I'd pass on a few of our practices. Take them or leave them or better yet, perfect them...make them your own.

Bag Ladies and Gentlemen:

- Reuse any shopping bag you might end up bringing home. I reused veggie bags from the grocery for actual storage, shopping bags to carry things home and those paper wine bags you get at the liquor store are great for carting stone fruits and apples home. If a plum or a peach isn't quite ripe, leave it in the paper bag to speed up the process.

- Roller bags and back packs. For those of us running from our jobs to the share pick-up, having bags on us and carting things home in our suits (and for ladies, heels...) can be a challenge sometimes. There are a variety of roller bags and back pack options that make carrying heavy shares easier. As the summer progresses and the shares include pounds and pounds of squash, stone fruits, tomatoes, etc., you will find you need something that helps you negotiate all that weight home. I found a roller bag that zips up into itself and can be stored in a medium to large purse and highly recommend something like this if you are fashion conscious.

- Ecologically conscious bags. There are canvas bags and synthetic bags, some of which can be folded up to the size of a wallet and all of which can be washed, dried and reused. Having one of these in your briefcase or purse is very probably going to come in handy this season. Additionally, there are cloth produce storage bags. Here is a link to one company that produces these:

http://www.ecobags.com/

Storage (what storage?) :

- Many items can sit on a section of the counter, window sill, top of a bookcase of cookbooks or you may try purchasing a wire tiered hanging basket.

- If storing in the refrigerator, most items can be put in a breathable bag (see Eco bag's produce bags) and stored in the crisper. I have found that things stay fresher with a towel of some kind in the bag (a single paper towel or a small cloth) and if the bag is plastic, usually a few holes are a good idea as well. This allows a little breathing and the towel absorbs condensation that might otherwise cause the produce to spoil more quickly.

- Usually when I get home, I soak greens (lettuces, spinach, kale, etc.) in our sink that evening. I then lay them out on paper towels or a kitchen towel (those of you with children, this is a great use for burp cloths your children have outgrown) and then roll them and place them in the crisper. You may want to wrap them further in a plastic bag but do not seal the bag. I've found that if I clean the greens ahead of time, we use them more often. I also find they last a full week, at least, stored in this manner.

I referenced Joy of Cooking a lot due to the fact that you can find almost EVERY vegetable and fruit that might come in a Hellgate CSA share. Most entries include information on how to store the particular item and get the best preservation possible. They also usually include tips on cooking the item and some recipes, information on what to look for as far as ripeness of an item and often some sort of cultural and/or historical information. Joy of Cooking isn't your only option, though. Look at your bookshelves and check to see if someone may have given you a book by Jane Brody or Alice Waters. That book collecting dust is probably a goldmine for helping you preserve your CSA treasures. Then again, if you really haven't got something at home, the local library is a wonderful resource. Just in the past couple of months, I have checked out several excellent cook books to study. There are books on any kind of ethnic cuisine you may crave as well as books on canning (!!) and straightforward books on ideas for imaginative salads.

Whatever you do with the food you get over the next 6 months, I hope you get creative and enjoy all of these fresh amazing items adding some personal flair and cooking some new favorite dishes for your friends and family.