Some shareholders of the Community Supported Garden at La Vista in Godfrey help with weeding and other tasks on a volunteer work day in the organic garden began in 2002 under the umbrella of the Oblate Ecological Initiative.

GODFREY - Shareholders in the Community Supported Garden at La Vista in Godfrey are not only experiencing a bountiful harvest this summer, they are gaining some insight about life, as they read the CSG La Vista newsletter.

"A good way to get a taste of how farmer Kris Larson feels is to look at what he writes in the weekly newsletter," says Sister Maxine Pohlman, SSND, who works for the Oblate's Ecological Learning Center at La Vista. "It is lovely writing." (www.lavistacsa.org)

In the Aug. 26 newsletter Larson wrote about ugly vegetables. He says they get their fair share of ugly vegetables from the farm, and he debates with himself over what to do with them. "Sometimes it's hard to put ugly vegetables in your share, because they don't look very good," he says. "But it's more difficult to withhold vegetables from your share just because they aren't visually pleasing."

He cites carrots as a good example. This year they have a lot of carrots in the field. "Summer carrots are great, but they're ugly," says Larson. "They split. They attract root bugs. They tend to suffer in the worst of the summer heat. But they're still pretty darn good. They still taste like a fresh, naturally nutritious upgrade over the bland supermarket fare."

Larson ponders over whether it is better to give people carrots that look worn, gnawed and broken, or not offer carrots at all?

His answer is simple. Flavor is the deciding factor.

Tomatoes are another example he says. "Our priorities with tomatoes are flavor, flavor and flavor, not how they look." There is no attempt to go for the uniform round shape and smooth red color of supermarket tomatoes.

"Our tomatoes are ugly. They're all over the place when it comes to aesthetic qualities. We grow tomato varieties that scar and bruise if you breathe on them, which are normally superficial qualities' hiding flavors that are out of the world."

Some of the tomatoes they put out for community garden shareholders look like they might fall apart any minute, and sometimes they do, writes Larson. "But wow, that's the point. They're often so ripe and tasty that they will fall apart as they melt right in your mouth."

He recommends people go for ugly tomatoes when they are in season. "The ugliest tomatoes are often the best ones by far. You've got all winter to choose perfectly round imported tomatoes. Take advantage of the season while it's here, and try the wild flavorful world of the ugly ones."