I’m a working member of two consumer supported agriculture (CSA) farms this year. One is established, with a paid staff and a member season that starts in June. The other is fledgling, with a member season that started yesterday. The farm lands are in two different ecosystems; both are organic.
I’m directly connected to the source of my food. And I get to observe and participate in two different CSA farm operations.
Under the expert mentoring of Sister Carole, at Harmony Farm CSA in Goshen, NY, I will become a better locavore.
I caught a break on my first working day. The misty, 65-degree F day, made it much easier to haul and shovel mulch. I’m getting used to working curved, crescent-shaped rows. I’ll see how well I did when the spinach comes up. I watered the tiny onion and broccoli seedlings in the greenhouse, but before I got a chance to harvest the chickweed from the greenhouse lettuce beds, another diligent gardener finished weeding.
I did not expect to come home with any veggies this early. The master gardeners started seeds in the greenhouse weeks ago. The mustard greens are flavorful and tangy when parboiled for one minute; the mixed salad greens don’t even need dressing.
My two parsnips turned out to be huge. They benefited from mild winter conditions. I boiled, then baked some of the parsnips. The earth these roots grow in has been nurtured since 1993. I added a bit of olive oil and white pepper. Dinner was amazing.
Harmony Farms set up a Yahoo! Groups, so I can communicate with other gardeners and check on what needs to be done. There are also written checklists and resources at the farm. For now, I’m sticking close to Sister Carole, who is the Barry Keegan of gardening.
Besides really tasty, healthy food, I also get to bring my veggie peels, coffee grounds, and other compost to the farm, instead of the land fill. Best of all, my food costs are set until Thanksgiving.
As for transportation costs, the supermarket I like best is as far away from me as one of the farms. At least a trip to the farm gets me exercise, as well as affordable and delicious food, with no wasteful packaging.
[...] to less than 100 miles a week. That gives me latitude to get to my doctor, if needed and my two CSA’s. I’ve given up swimming for now, because the pool is 15 miles [...]
Pingback by WriterByNature.com » My 2008 Earth Day Pledge: Walk, Don’t Drive | Creative Content for Your Nature Endeavors — April 22, 2008 @ 6:02 am
[...] Tuesday morning while fulfilling my CSA commitment, I was soaked in sweat pulling thistles out of the veggie patches at 5:30 AM. Yesterday, [...]
Pingback by WriterByNature.com » Flooding, Tornadoes, Food and Harvest Season | Creative Content for Your Nature Endeavors — June 18, 2008 @ 7:10 am
[...] CSA farming makes sense if the core group of people each have a little bit of time to devote to the slow work of planting, weed prevention and watering. I could not do this on a daily basis, but with the knowledge and support of 39 others, some with more time, some with less, the land has been cultivated, the vegetables planted at the right time and I have had something to take home, including veggies from last fall, since I started working on April 1. [...]
Pingback by Keeping Track of Travel Miles : Random Kismet — August 10, 2008 @ 3:46 pm