Beginnings

So you joined a CSA....

I live in a college town with a great farmer's market--this market runs all summer and into the fall (June-Oct) and then a few weeks in the winter (Nov-Dec) and another few weeks in early spring (Mar-May).  So for most of the year, I can go to the market on Saturday mornings and buy local products: goat cheese, pasta, vegetables, bread, fruit, soap, baked goods, etc.  Even though I have this at my disposable for most of the year, I don't go very often.  I have no good reason why, besides forgetting about it until it's too late (the market is only open until 1pm) or sleeping in and missing the best hours (most of the good stuff is gone by noon).  But I'm committed to eating fresh, locally grown and/or organic (I'll take local over organic--because I'd rather help my local economy) food.  Last year I did 90% of my holiday shopping at local, independent stores, and that has really shown me how easy it can be to support Main St.  Also, my little college town is bursting with new businesses and most of the businesses in town are locally owned anyway.

So, I've joined a CSA along with two fellow grad student friends.  We're splitting a full farm share In total our share costs $575, so $192 each for 22 weeks of fresh organic produce which we can pick up at the farm or at the local farmer's market. This breaks down to a mere $8.73 per week for my share of the vegetables.  Now, the only question is, how much produce am I really getting?  According to the farm's website for our full share with can expect $28-$30 worth of produce each week--I'm not sure how many pounds that is and of course that depends on the crop that week and the season and a whole host of other factors.  I'm betting that this CSA share will end up being a much better bargain that buying regular produce at the regular grocery store.

Here is how this summer is going to work:


Saturdays: pick up CSA box.  I will photograph and log the entire contents of the CSA box and note what my 1/3 of that is. I'll also note any extra produce I picked up at the Farmer's Market--I usually go with $20 in my pocket and leave with a bag full of produce and some cash leftover.


Wednesdays: when the grocery store ad comes out, I'll peruse it and try to compare/contrast their prices with my weekly cost of $8.73 to show how much money I'm saving.  I'll compare my local, organic produce price to either the stores regular produce (a lot of their produce is local) or the organic produce--whichever happens to be cheaper that week (which is what I would buy).  I'll also share any additional produce I buy to supplement my CSA haul, since that is another factor to consider--this will mostly be fruit, since the farm only has veggies.


The rest of the week: I will share how I prepared or stored for later use that week's haul.  Expect a lot of roasted veggies, salads, and tips on how to freeze things.  I will post sources for recipes I do not make up myself and sources to the information I found on how to freeze things--if it's not just cutting up the produce, freezing it in a single layer, then bagging and tagging it.

I hope you will follow my CSA venture and I welcome any comments, tips, recipes, etc.