Organic A+: Community Supported Agriculture

A few months ago, K and I decided to take the plunge and join a CSA, or community supported agriculture. Basically, we found a farm locally that we paid a set amount to during the winter, when they aren't producing much food. Then, once they start to harvest, we get a box of produce every week for a set amount of time (in our case, 20 weeks). We found it via this great website, which keeps track of local farms across the country and just generally has a wealth of information about CSAs. Ours started a few weeks ago, and so far it's been pretty awesome!

via CATeye's photostream

The farm we get our produce from, Castlemaine, is in Liberty, NC, which is about an hour from where we live. They deliver it to the local farmers' market, which is super convenient. Since it's just the two of us, plus our roommate, G, we ended up getting the half share, but that's been plenty for us! I've especially liked getting the boxes because it's been fun to figure out how to put everything to use.

It's also gotten both of us out of our usual grocery store rut. Typically, when I go to the store, I have the same rotating list of items that I'll buy. Getting things like bok choy, radishes, and beet greens has forced us to get creative in the kitchen and figure out ways to use these new-to-us ingredients. So far, this has meant lots of stir fry and sauteed vegetables mixed into pasta sauce, but I'm sure we'll branch out as the weeks progress.

Although joining a CSA definitely isn't for everyone, we're really enjoying it so far and love knowing that our food is being grown pesticide-free and only a few miles away!