Seasons greetings!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

From all of us at Farm to Philly to all of you: Merry Christmas, Happy Festivus, Happy Boxing Day, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Winter Solstice….whatever holiday you celebrate this week, we wish you an excellent holiday season.  And if you don’t celebrate anything at all, happy Tuesday!

I refer to my own holiday this week as Chriskwanzakah, a secular holiday that demands a tree with lights, a gift exchange, feats of strength, and celebrating the return of the light.  Yep, I get to horn in on all the good stuff!  This week the Fair Food Farmstand had a Chriskwanzkah gift for all of us: citrus.

Don’t get your hopes up - this is not locally grown citrus.  While we do have an abundance of greenhouses in the area, I’m not sure such a thing actually exists!  But this citrus really is the next best thing.  The Tuscarora Organic Growers Co-op, which is based in Hustontown, PA, makes organic citrus from family farms in Florida available to local sellers.  I’m sure there are other places these babies are available in the area, the Fair Food Farmstand is carrying navel oranges, Cara Caras, Hamlin Juice oranges, Nova Tangelos, and red seedless grapefruits.  I tried a Tangelo during my volunteer shift at the Farmstand this past Saturday - they’re outstanding!

At this time of year when a lot of us start craving citrus, this is as close to ‘no guilt’ as it gets.  If you can’t support a local citrus farmer here, at least we can support a small grower on the East Coast.

Happy Chriskwanzakah to us all!