I've been buying more and more local products for my family during the last couple of years. Local and as green as we can afford!
Week 8
Finding out about the Farmer Dave CSA in Dracut 3 summers ago and last winter the Enterprise Produce CSA has given us the chance to really think about what we are eating and who is involved with growing our veggies in particular. We have been out to visit both farms and learned a lot about both "Farmer Daves" (Dumeresq in Dracut and Jackson in South Deerfield). Talking with the people in charge of planting our food gave us a greater sense of the work involved as well as their sense of responsibility to us, their farm share members, and the environment as they plan the use of the land with the most abundant harvest and the least environmental impact.
When we made the decision to join the CSA for the first time, we thought a lot about the way it was set up and knew that it was worth any harvest risk. A CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is becoming more common now but was just getting started in our local area when we joined 3 years ago. Of course, there is some risk purchasing a share in a crop before it is even growing but the knowledge and experience of Farmer Dave gave us confidence.
Yes, paying for 20 weeks of vegetables in a couple of payments means planning a bit and getting the money together early. Okay, not for the last minute shopper.
Yes, fresh vegetables. That means that you might actually have to cook something different. The handy weekly newsletter comes with lots of great recipe suggestions. And guess what? We learned that we actually really like kale. And that weird looking root called celeriac makes a tasty addition to mashed potatoes!
I actually calculated the quantities we received each week last year, I know, a little obsessive. But I wanted to have something solid to back up my enthusiasm for the CSA. My calculations are not scientific, just a small kitchen scale. We paid for a regular share and fruit. I found that we would have paid a lot more in a super market for the "sustainable/ organic" equivalents. Here is a sample:
Week 8
Vegetables: cucumbers 1 1/2 lb, eggplant 1/2 lb, potatoes 3 lb, zucchini 1 lb, kousa 1 1/2 lb, jalapeños 2 oz, tomatoes 1 1/2 lb, yellow beans 4 lbs, Yellow squash 1 lb, basil 2 oz
Fruit: blueberries 1 pint, strawberries 1 pint, yellow plums 1 lb
We are into the last month of our "winter CSA" and will miss the natural grains and flour from Four Star Farms. Since the CSA was a combination of organic and sustainable farms up and down the East Coast, it really gave us some great variety during the winter months. We will look forward to those red grapefruit and fresh avocados from Florida and sweet potatoes from North Carolina as well as Massachusetts grown herbs and greens. Something to look forward to next Winter!
We have signed up for another summer and look forward to the early veggies this June.
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