I heard about CSAs a few years ago from a co-worker. You can read more about them here, but
basically CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) are a way for farmers and
people local to them to work together.
The benefits for the farmer include receiving money up front and sharing
some of the risk. The benefits for the
consumer include weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) fresh, local, seasonal produce,
and knowing exactly where the food is coming from. It seems like a largely win-win arrangement.
We have wanted to join a CSA since I first heard about it
from my co-worker. We liked the idea of
buying local food and knowing where it comes from. We also think (hope) that having already paid
for and receiving a weekly box of fresh produce will encourage us to eat more
fresh fruits and vegetables. We also
found this wonderful cookbook, The New Southern Garden Cookbook, by Sheri Castle, which got me even more
interested in joining a CSA. The
cookbook is organized by ingredient and focuses on using what you have an
abundance of, usually what’s in season.
The recipes are amazing; they seem to be an excellent mix of somewhat
traditional preparations and different ways of using the same old produce. All of the sections begin with some
information on traditional use, growing methods, etc for that particular food,
which makes for interesting reading.
Having this cookbook removed that last little bit of doubt about what we
would end up doing with produce that we weren’t as familiar with.
But it just didn’t work out for us to join a CSA for a few
years. It seemed that we couldn’t find a
place with a convenient pick-up location, that offered half shares (a full
share just seems like way too much for only two people), that was within our
budget, that wasn’t already full.
This year, though, I put joining a CSA on the calendar for
January because we didn’t want to be too late and miss out. We finally found one that offers half-shares
and a pick-up location about 15 minutes from both of our office buildings with
hours that will easily allow one of us to pick up our box every week. This CSA offers a payment plan of one third
down and the rest paid over the next two months, which definitely makes it
easier on the budget. It also seems like
this farm will be a good fit for us as their shares focus more on fruits and
vegetables and less on herbs (which we plan to grow ourselves again this year)
and fresh flowers (which are lovely, but not safe with our quirky quartet of
cats).
We sent our application and down payment in at the beginning
of the month and yesterday we received our confirmation email. We’re officially in! The pick-ups should start sometime in late
May and they will be in touch with us closer to that time. Now we just have to pay the remaining balance
and wait, and of course decide which recipes we want to try.
