Community Supported Agriculture – or Goodies by the Box!
Since I took up gardening in my late twenties (30 years ago!), I’ve never been successful at growing vegetables. I can lose myself for hours pulling weeds and transplanting among the flowering plants, but five minutes in a bean patch seems like drudgery. Consequently, I never developed a sense or an affinity about growing edibles. They remained strangers to me.
So I’ve been stuck buying produce at the supermarket, which has been an increasingly expensive proposition, especially here in rural Nova Scotia. Last year, I was thrilled to hear about a local Community Supported Agriculture co-op, and this past spring sent part of my tax refund to buy a share.
In a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, members sign up and purchase a “share” at the beginning of the growing season which helps to cover the farmer’s cost of operation and production. In return, they receive a portion of the farm’s harvest, distributed throughout the season in a weekly box of fresh, seasonally available, and typically organic, produce.
It’s been a cold, wet spring so the harvesting is off to a late start, but today I picked up our first weekly box of greens. This week we got lettuce mix, spicy mix, Swiss chard, salad turnips, green onions and radishes, along with a recipe for Swiss chard au gratin that I’m eagerly looking forward to trying.
I’m very excited about this program. I get farm-fresh (really & truly farm-fresh) produce straight out of the garden without any of the weeding, and without needing to know how to grow these things. Perfect for the residual city-person in me! (Not to mention the benefits to the local economy.)
If there’s no CSA program in your area, consider contacting a vegetable crop farmer (or even an avid gardener) and starting one.
Your first week’s haul looks delicious! We loved the CSA program we participated in last year, and even took a winter share that gave us two large pick-ups of squash, carrots, potatoes and onions in December and January. It was a great deal. We didn’t buy in this year because we’re trying to grow our own. We’ll see how it goes!
Jennifer, were you introduced to any new vegetables through your involvement in CSA?
I had never heard of salad turnips, much less eaten them, but I’m looking forward to culinary adventures!
Yes, we got a lot of greens in the early weeks that we’d never heard of — mostly Asian varieties (though locally grown, of course). The brussel sprouts came still on the stalk — that was a new sight if not a new taste. And later in the year, we got to try some types of squash that were new to us — all delicious.
This sounds so interesting, Debbie. I’ve never heard of such a program in my area. But it seems to me a great way to support local farmers AND to make sure to have fresh produce. I’m impressed. 🙂
I just made another pick-up this afternoon, Yvette – I LOVE this program. It’s win-win – and good for my health, too!
I also participate (and now volunteer as well) at our local CSA – guaranteed fresh produce … support the local economy … it’s a win/win situation!