I Purchased My First CSA!

What's a CSA?  Community Supported Agriculture is where individuals can buy a share in the farmers crops before they plant in exchange for a weekly share of the harvest through the growing season.  In my case, I purchased a Half Share for $325, and I'll go to the farm once per week and select 3-7 items from their weekly harvest.  Some farms also deliver to a central pick-up point such as farmer's markets or grocery stores for the members to pick-up. 

From my membership application:
"We also have had several requests for a smaller CSA share or half share and so a limited amount is being offered at $325.00. Full amount will be due by April 15th. The weekly full share includes 5 to 9 different vegetables, fruits, and herbs and is more than enough to feed a family of 4 or 5. A half share will be 3 to 7 products or literally one half of the vegetables ready for harvest that week. We grow an incredibly wide range of items from asparagus to zucchini. If we have weeks when the harvest is not as hardy we will include fresh baked bread (made with our organic wheat), organic eggs, homemade butter, teas made from our herbs and other value added products."

I'm lucky enough to live close to Foxfire Farm so I get to visit it weekly to select my produce.  When we visited on Friday to drop-off our check and application, we got to see a baby goat that was just born.  Tammy (the farmer) welcomed us into their barn and the kids even got to play in the stall with baby goats while I talked to her.  Her farm is all organic and offers all sorts of good things.  I selected this farm as I got to volunteer there Gleaning The Harvest last fall.

Some farmers even offer CSA's through local grocery stores where you can pick-up your weekly CSA delivery before you shop for your groceries.  I love the idea of places of employment who work with local farmers to offer CSA's delivered weekly to their work and can even deduct it from their paycheck.  Read more about this great program here.

I will be blogging about my CSA experience throughout the season.  I'll include what produce I received and what I made with it.  I am looking forward to the challenge of cooking with freshly harvested produce each week.

Why not find a CSA near you?  Check out http://www.localharvest.org/ for CSA and U-Pick listings in your area.  I'm going with friends and our kids to pick fresh asparagus next week in our area.  Our local farmers markets will be open in a couple weeks too.  Let the fun of the season begin!

Happily submitted to Works for Me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family.

Enjoy!

from the book "The Big Golden Book of Poetry"

1949 Golden Press

Illustrated by Gertrude Elliott