Community Sustainable Agriculture

Have you heard about Community Sustainable Agriculture? I first heard about it three years ago from a lady who told me I was lucky she didn't have a gun when I told her I needed to do a retail inspection at her feed store.

Anyway, I finally was able to join up here in the Valley. And I got my first box of lovely produce yesterday! I drove out to TapRoot Farms on Church Street in Port Williams to get it.

CSA works like this: You buy a share or a half-share for 52 or 18 weeks. And every week, you get a lovely box of locally grown fruits and vegetables! You never know what is in the box and it works on what is in season and what is available. No ordering, no choosing. You get what you get! It's like Christmas every week! AND, you get to support local farmers, eat more fruit and veg (Let's face it. If it is in the fridge, I'll eat it but tend not to if it isn't!), try new stuff and be part of a community of people doing something good. I have added the TapRoot blog to my list if you are interested in checking it out.

So, on the first day of April, on a sunny afternoon, I joined a whack of people picking up boxes (ingenious bags made of sailcloth, really) to get my half shares worth of stuff. And here is what was in it: Spartan apples, pears, carrots, mushrooms, sprouts, mescalin mix, peeled squash and cherry tomatoes. And a recipe and a welcome note tied up with raffia! This is a list of the local farmers I supported this week. And they did all the hoin' and the pickin'! Next week, I take the empty bag and the containers and pick up a new treasure box! If you are not able to pick it up you can send a friend or at the end of the day they will donate your stuff to a local food bank. You do have to pay up front, but they allow you to give post-dated checks. Since I am officially on a budget now, it will constitute part of my monthly food amount.

I feel SO GOOD about being able to do this.