Last year I started hearing more than ever about Community Sustained Agriculture (CSA). The idea is you pay a local farm upfront for your veggies for the year. This gives them capital to grow their crops in advance and you're guaranteed a weekly delivery of veggies for the 15 week growing season.
It also takes some of the risk away from the farmer and shares it with us, the consumer. If the farm has really great yields that year, you'll have a really large CSA share. If it's a year of tough weather conditions, your delivery might be smaller than expected. Yet by spreading the risk somewhat, we're insuring that the small local organic farms are able to stay in business from year to year and thrive.
Last year I was a bit late in registering for a CSA - they fill up fast! Last November, my friend Amber wrote about her visit to Skeeter Farms. I checked them out and quickly put my name on the waiting list. In February I received an email saying registration was open and mailed off my cheque.
Deliveries started July 13th and we are loving it!
This week's delivery included swiss chard, two different kinds of yellow squash, beans, cucumbers, yummy mixed salad sprinkled with edible flower petals, broccoli, beets, cilantro and purple peppers. I love all the colour!
If you average the total annual fee over the 15 weeks of delivery, this huge bunch of produce is roughly $25. We easily spend that on veggies each week and that's not even for produce that's local and organic.
If you're interested in joining a CSA next year, I highly recommend Skeeter Farm. Here are my tips for making the most out of your CSA.
It also takes some of the risk away from the farmer and shares it with us, the consumer. If the farm has really great yields that year, you'll have a really large CSA share. If it's a year of tough weather conditions, your delivery might be smaller than expected. Yet by spreading the risk somewhat, we're insuring that the small local organic farms are able to stay in business from year to year and thrive.
Last year I was a bit late in registering for a CSA - they fill up fast! Last November, my friend Amber wrote about her visit to Skeeter Farms. I checked them out and quickly put my name on the waiting list. In February I received an email saying registration was open and mailed off my cheque.
Deliveries started July 13th and we are loving it!
This week's delivery included swiss chard, two different kinds of yellow squash, beans, cucumbers, yummy mixed salad sprinkled with edible flower petals, broccoli, beets, cilantro and purple peppers. I love all the colour!
If you average the total annual fee over the 15 weeks of delivery, this huge bunch of produce is roughly $25. We easily spend that on veggies each week and that's not even for produce that's local and organic.
If you're interested in joining a CSA next year, I highly recommend Skeeter Farm. Here are my tips for making the most out of your CSA.
- Check that the pick-up point is convenient as your veggies will be delivered to select locations, not your home. I emailed in advance and asked where the local pick-up locations were last year and if they expected they would be the same this year.
- Be adventurous. With most CSA's, you can choose 3 or 4 items you do not want to have in your delivery. I wanted to make the most of whatever was fresh and in season so the only thing we requested not to receive was spicy peppers - none of us enjoy anything spicy.
- The internet is your friend. I have one great zucchini pasta recipe but it's not great enough to eat every week for 5 weeks straight. Last week I discovered an amazing chocolate zucchini cake recipe an we've been enjoying it all week.
- Plan your meals. I've done meal plans for years but I think it's especially important when you are receiving veggies you're not used to cooking with. It would be a shame for the next week to roll around and you still have half your veggies going limp in the produce drawer of your fridge. We pick-up our delivery on Wednesdays and then I meal plan for Thursday through Wednesday once I see what's in the bag.
I'm so jealous of your stash of yummy veggies!
Our local CSA closed up this year which makes me sad. Next spring I'll be hunting down another one and hopefully enjoying a beautiful bounty like yours!
Jenn, we also support a CSA in our community, and I love it. Getting that fresh local, organic produce every week has been awesome. My fridge is stacked full or goodness and I love that we have to many good and healthy snacks because of it, not just meals. I also added the fruit supplement option from my CSA and am enjoying blueberries, watermelon and cantaloupe from the farm. It was well worth the investment on so many levels. Love all the beautiful colour.