Fresh produce

Being a single guy who doesn't necessarily have time to cook on a regular basis, I've always envied my friends who buy farm shares of local produce. I know that half-shares exist, but I still think that given my odd schedules, a 3 lb shipment of kale would simply mean that the compost bin would be well-fed that week.

However, Waterloo is a town right on the edge of farmland (in fact, farms seem to be getting gobbled up for suburban development in typical sprawl patterns). This means that produce and farm stands are within a pretty close (half hour) bike ride. Found a nice roadside stand; bought the above selection for $6.50. Yes, I realize that the lettuce is iceberg (a poor water delivery system, and little else), but that little money for tomatoes, zukes, red peppers, lettuce, shallots, and scallions is pretty neat. It was one of those places where they say, "Oh, take more scallions--no charge, we're just gonna toss them otherwise." Unfortunately, I found out that the season for the stand ends in September. Pretty sucky timing.

Anyway, one of the neat discoveries on the bike ride was the modern-style windmill up in the cornfields there. I have closer photos, but I wanted to show one that captures what it around it. Not sure if scale is clear from the photo; it's about 5-6 stories tall. Not really sure who owns it, and/or what it is used for (just electricity for a farm, research, etc.) It was moving along at a fair clip that day.


Would be nice to own and run one, someday. A little bit of energy independence.