CSA is community supported agriculture – a family buys a “share” at the beginning of the growing season – usually a few hundred dollars and a promise to work 15-20 hours over the summer – and then every week you get to go pick up a bundle and a bushel of whatever is growing on the farm.
We were members of the Poughkeepsie Farm Project when we lived in New York. I remember bringing three-month-old Edda in her carseat to one of my volunteer hours and nestling her between the rows of vegetables. I nursed her while weeding asparagus.
Part of the fun of joining a CSA is to come home after a Saturday pick-up and look at your 4 beets and 2 tomatoes and 4 pounds of string beans and try and figure out how to use it all up before the week runs out and you find yourself with 8 cucumbers, 2 green peppers and a pile of okra.
When we moved to Maryland, I looked for a CSA and found the Red Wiggler Community Farm. Not only do they have wonderful organic food, but they create meaningful, fully included jobs for adults with developmental disabilities and they have the solar off-the-grid house that the University of Maryland built for the solar decathlon we visited a few months ago. It can’t get much better than that.
The Red Wiggler wrote on their blog that shares for the 2008 season will be for sale next week! The Red Wiggler is so popular that they don’t have any Saturday pick-up shares available. There are only four Wednesday shares available. The Wednesday pick up hours are from 2-5 pm and the farm is 25 minutes away from the house. Those are prime working hours and almost an hour driving! This might be a CSA we won’t be able to join for a while.
Still, it’s nice to think of summer produce when everything is still brown and cold.
Nice photo!
In the picture, Jeremy looks like a real jew, not just 1/2 🙂 Nice looking.
You do not have to drive to farm; the backyard and side spaces are enough for you to grow fresh vegetables.