CSA

We joined a CSA! Astonishingly, there’s a farm stand in easy walking distance of our apartment. When we stopped by for strawberries and asparagus, we discovered they’re running a CSA this summer. We signed up on the spot! It should start next week, so I’ll keep you posted on the results!

I'm very excited because I have wanted to try one of these since I heard about them two years ago. Going to the farmers' market is fun, but this is like playing Iron Chef at home for a whole summer!

For those of you not familiar with the term, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You essentially buy shares in a farm at the beginning of a season and get a box with a pre-agreed weight of vegetables every week. (We signed up for 5# a week, which is considered half a share and appropriate for 2 people. A full share at 10# a week would feed four.)

In addition to being great for farmers, CSAs also allow people to expand their culinary horizons. It's like Food TV (not that I have cable and get to watch it much)... you get a box and have to figure out creative uses for whatever you got! Some CSAs are more like community gardens with a farmer as overseer and actually allow or require participants to spend time on the farm each week helping out. I personally think that would be great for a family with kids who could use to learn where food comes from these days!

For more information on CSAs and finding one near you, go here. For more information on how our adventure turns out, check back later!