Monday, March 29, 2010

Trying a CSA


So, we think we're gonna try a CSA produce subscription. (A whaaat???)

According to Wikipedia:
Community-supported agriculture (in Canada Community Shared Agriculture) (CSA) is a socio-economic model of agriculture and food distribution. A CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation where the growers and consumers share the risks and benefits of food production. CSAs usually consist of a system of weekly delivery or pick-up of vegetables and fruit in a vegetable box scheme, sometimes including dairy products and meat.

In looking around, I found quite a few in the general area, but most weren't close enough to home to be efficient. Most of them had Friday or Saturday pick-ups, which for most would be fine, but for me, it would mean going 20-50 miles out of my and fighting tunnel traffic on a weekend to do it. The prospect of doing that every weekend didn't sound appealing to me.

The season's were quite long (which I guess is a good thing), and moderately expensive for something we had never done before. We really wanted something that we could get our feet wet with.

After looking around for a while longer, I found a farm that was across a tunnel, but the "good" tunnel, could be picked up on any specified day from Thursday to Saturday, and had a shorter season that cost a little less, as well. Sounds like a good "starter" CSA to me.

The season runs 20 weeks from June 1 to October 16th. Here is an example from their website of what they expect to have this season: Asparagus, Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cantaloupe, Carrots, Cucumbers, Eggplant, English Peas, Green Beans, Spring Onions, Peaches, Pumpkins, Radish, Southern Peas, Summer Squash, Swiss Chard, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, Peppers, Watermelon, and Zucchini. YUM!

While I'd love to have my own vegetable garden, I don't think I'd be able to grow everything that they are offering, and I certainly don't have the time to put into it like I'd like. This seems like a good alternative.

If I forget, please remind me to update you on how it's going. But I think it will be FUN!


AMW

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