2.20.2009

Support Your Local CSA

We finally did it this year...we joined a CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture group (sometimes called a co-op). From June through November, we'll be getting a box of locally grown, organic vegetables and fruits from Seasons' Harvest Farm. As much as I want to grow my own food, our yard doesn't get enough sun for more than a few tomato plants and herbs.

While it was more than a few pennies (about $17 a week), the cost is worth it, especially knowing that every week, all summer and fall, we'll have box of healthy food to cook up into stews, salads, and to eat raw. I end up spending that amount every week at the Farmer's Market, and last summer I was horrified to see that the sleeve of garlic I bought had a "Grown in China" sticker (to clarify, I mean this not against Chinese produce, but against shipping heads of garlic halfway around the world instead of selling locally grown ones). Thanks Renninger's Farmers Market, for masquerading as a venue for local produce.

Local Harvest is a great place to start looking for your own CSA, or a local farm market. That's where I found my farm (I love writing that..."my" farm).


9 comments:

Jennifer said...

I did and I do. :) We look forward to it each year. My farm delivers the produce!! I am so excited for May!!

Local Harvest rocks!

J Cosmo Newbery said...

It is very hard to find non-Chinese garlic in Australia. 80-90% is Chinese. But, happily, not impossible. Grew some of my own this year, not wonderful results in volume (I think I made a net loss on the harvest) due to climate perhaps, but tasty!

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CanCan (MomMostTraveled) said...

That sounds awesome; I think you need that dehydrator now.

When I lived in China, we got lots of great, inexpensive produce (and eggs, and really really delicious homemade yogurt!); I really miss that! I'm sure I have eaten China-grown garlic many many a time and survived.

I'm kind of spoiled here because fresh food is cheap. It is the packaged food that costs a lot.

Muthering Heights said...

That's awesome! I hope we can get plugged in to something like that sometime soon!

Naomi said...

Ugh. Our farmer's market has similarly far-flung produce... and the prices are crazy high, too! You'd think Kansas would be a hotbed of local farm activity but it really isn't. There's no local CSA, which bums me out. We have a pretty big garden but the seasons are limited. Last year, our strawberries were awesome and the eggplant. We've had cilantro year-round! And the asparagus finally came up, too, which was cool.

amy purple said...

I've been wanting to do this, but each time I bring it up the husband doesn't think we'd get the chance to use everything each week and would end up wasting it. :(

AudreyO said...

We have someone where I work that provides bags of produce all year long. She varies the bags depending on what's in season and what she can grow. I stopped by today as I'm working on visiting the many blogs from Bloggy Carnival now that I have time to read and comment.

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