Our Community Sponsored Agriculture (CSA) starts in a week, on June 8th. I can almost smell the fresh spinach and the sugar snap peas.
For the past six years, my children and I have gone every Tuesday from June to November to the Church of the Heavenly Rest on 90th and 5th Avenue to pick up our vegetables and fruits trucked in from Stoneledge Farm, a certified organic farm located in South Cairo, NY.
How It Works:
As a CSA member, you purchase a share from a farmer before the harvest begins. The money allows the farmer to cover yearly costs and in return, the member gets a weekly delivery of farm-fresh, local and often organic produce.
My city-bound, farm-deprived children have had a crash course on seasonal eating--tons of lettuce, rhubarb and spinach in the spring, tomatoes and peaches in the middle of the summer and delicious apples, Keruka Gold potatoes and Red Ace beets in the fall.
Occasionally, we will look at our weekly share and feel overwhelmed. How are we going to eat all this? How are we going to cook it? And sometimes, what exactly is it?
Making It Work For You:
Here are some tips on how you and your family can make the most of your CSA share:
- Planning – As soon as you find out what you are getting for the week, make a menu plan. I ask each child to decide a meal for the week incorporating vegetables from the share. Here is a great recipe for rhubarb crumb bars and watch this video on how to make one of my kids’ favorite dishes, kale chips.
- Washing – When you pick up your share, make sure to set aside some time to wash and prepare the vegetables for the week. The leafy greens will keep best if washed, rinsed and dried very well (to avoid rotting) and stored in a plastic container or bag in the refrigerator. We do this because we are more apt to use them during the week when they are all washed and ready to eat. You can also stick a note on your fridge with an inventory of your veggies so they aren’t forgotten in the crisper.
- Freezing –Some weeks you just can’t use everything up. That’s when it’s time to freeze. Freezing berries is easy: Wash and dry the berries and then spread out on a tray. Freeze for approximately 30 minutes and then bag them or put them in container. With greens, carrots, peas and broccoli, blanch them for a minute and then spread on a tray and freeze the same way as the berries.
- Juicing – Of course, there is always juicing – a healthy and tasty way to use up all your veggies. I enlist my children in putting the greens, cucumbers, carrots or whatever else we have from that week into the juicer. They are much more likely to taste the concoctions when they have helped make them. Here is a nice recipe for a green juice and here is a great article on juicing from nutritionist Katherine Pennington’s be-n-balance website.
Local Harvest has information on finding a CSA in your area.
Here’s to a new CSA season and please let me know if you have other good tips for making the most of your farm-fresh bounty!
Francesca Olivieri is co-founder of sage baby, an online eco-friendly baby store offering everything from organic clothes and skin care to furniture. She also runs a green consulting business; blogs for The Family Groove and Scenic Hudson; and contributes to Daily Candy Kids, YogaCity, Citiscoop, and NRDC’s Simple Steps. Please visit her website at FrancescaOlivieri.com.
From: Augusta Reese | 6/18/10 at 10:09 am
It seems all the CSA's are booked early...what time of year is best to sign up?
From: Francesca | 6/18/10 at 6:45 pm
I sign up at the end of each season for the following year. So that is usually in November. I would contact your local CSA now and let them know that you want to be put on the wait list. And then touch base with them again in November. Also, they might suggest another CSA in your area.
From: Holly Stewart | 6/19/10 at 11:18 am
Thank you so much for this post - just found CSAs in my area and will totally sign up (lots of great farms in Indiana).
I am a big juicer and find it is the best way to use up produce that would otherwise go bad. Just put it all in the juicer and add a lemon and/or apple and even some ginger and it makes a great drink!
Love reading your posts!
From: Liz Bentley | 6/27/10 at 11:24 pm
Thank you so much for this post just found a CSA in my area and am looking forward to using them!
From: Shop local, eat local « the bright spot: Lidia Varesco Design Blog | 6/21/11 at 2:31 pm
[...] articles in Whole Living and Food & Wine have sung the praises of CSAs both as a way to support local farms, as well as [...]