CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farms came to the US from Europe in the 1980's and there is now over 12000 CSA farms in North America. There are different ways these farms are organized but they all have one thing in common that the community supports the farm with shares or subscriptions. It is not about cheap food but good quality food that is picked fresh and goes straight to the table. It is about knowing that the food is traditionally grown and very little chemicals are used only when necessary. This movement has grown because of the large production corporate owned farms. Many of the produce is genetically changed to be picked by machine and resist pests. Most fresh produce isn't so fresh because it has been picked early before it is at it's peek and shipped for thousands of miles to the local warehouse before it gets to your table. Local grown produce tastes better because it is picked when it is ripe and many of the varieties are heirloom seeds that have not been genetically been changed.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
We have split up the publishing duties, but we welcome everyone in IAN to do daily diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news! If you would like to write a diary, let us know in a comment.
Well,
here we are again,
another bigjac Tuesday.
I failed to get a witty diary in the queue I time.
I had long admired this one,
and decided it's time has come.
It fits right in
with my concern
about the end of plentiful diesel fuel,
which will bring about
the end of plentiful groceries
in the supermarkets of America.
Young folks need to take this seriously;
when the system we now have breaks down,
Americans will need to feed themselves,
from gardens and home raised livestock,
such as chickens,
for eggs.
These CSA farms are a good start,
seems to me:
I did not know about CSA produce until a couple of years ago when following a group of food blogs. The authors would write about their weekly boxes with the enthusiasm of getting a Christmas present. They would then share recipes and pictures of how that produce was enjoyed. Last year I was in you tube researching gardening of tomatoes in South Florida, I followed a link for an everglade tomato. The nursery that was offering was listed in a state list of CSA farms. So it was there I found that there was a very good CSA farm in my town. Living in South Florida the best growing season is in winter. My season starts in the middle of November until the first week in May.
After looking into it I decided that this would be well worth the money. So I saved as much as I could from my food budget that I could to buy a share this fall. It figures out to about $27 a week for my box and I plan to freeze any excess to be used later. Besides, $27 is reasonable for a weeks worth of organic produce which includes herbs, salad leaf vegetables, flowers and other vegetables. Buying flowers is a luxury for me now to put on the dinner table, which has me looking forward to them. I also plan to take advantage of the U-pick offers through out the season. This CSA does not offer fruit at this time in their weekly share. The farm also offers a half share for small families that is picked up ever other week.
When I went and picked up my first share, I was greeted by a friendly smile and asked my name. Because I was new the greeter explained how to pick up the vegetables and made sure I had brought bags. There was a clip board with my name on it to sign in. Then inside the barn everything was displayed beautifully in baskets with a little sign tell what it was and how much to take. I filled 4 plastic grocery bags and was glad I had brought a tote to put some of them in to carry. Then I was invited to go out back to the herb garden to hand cut what ever herbs or flowers I want. I had brought a pair of garden snips with me. I mostly snipped herbs but I did get nasturtiums because they are eatable for a salad. They make a salad special. They have a little spicy taste to them. I snipped a little of everything and they had them marked with wooden marker so you would know what they were. I forgot what some of them where because I am used to only seeing them as dried spices. When I got home I had to look them up by picture on the internet to identify them again.
I have gotten some very interesting vegetables in my share for the last few weeks. It has become an adventure in food. There has been many so that will be for another blog.
Thanks for reading.
Hope you're doing well,
but even if not,
tell us about it.
We're here to listen.