We joined the CSA

I’m so excited that we took the plunge and joined a CSA here in Charlotte.  Do you know what a CSA is?  I didn’t at first either – so no worries.  I’m here to keep you peeps informed! A CSA is Community Supported Agriculture.  The way it works is this:  you sign up for a season (summer, winter, spring, etc.) and every week you get a portion of the goods growing at the farm.  You don’t know what’s going to be in your box until that week.  So if you’re not open to trying new things it may not be the best fit.  But if you all about supporting your local farmers, like trying different veggies and fruits and like to save money this could be a great option!!

My farm delivers every week on Wednesday in Plaza Midwood, which is very convenient to us.  We decided to split a large box with some friends but they have a small box option as well.  The Fall Share is $357.00 for 10 weeks of deliveries and then we divide that in half since we’re splitting the share.  So for $19.50 a week we have all the produce we need and support our local farmers instead of someone in California or Mexico or really who knows where.

There are multiple farms in the Charlotte area that participate in CSA’s.  We chose to go with Know Your Farms.  The cool thing about going with this CSA is they are a combination of lots of different farms that come together to make up your weekly box.  And you can also add eggs, beef, pork or flowers on to your weekly delivery.

This is what we got this first week:

    

                      BASIL                                                  GREENS

    

                     SALAD GREENS                                            PARSNIPS

    

                       RADISHES                                                BUTTERNUT SQUASH

     

                        THYME                                                          APPLE

    

                          GARLIC                                                 WHITE POTATOES

The other cool thing about Know Your Farms is every week on their blog they let you know what to expect in the box and which farm it is coming from.  Here’s the list from this week:

Mixed Lettuce [RB]  (Barbee Farms)
White Potatoes  (Barbee Farms) 
Garlic  (Barbee Farms)
Kale ** [RB] (KC Farms)
Winesap Apples (Davis & Son Orchard)
Thyme [RB] (Landis Gourmet Mushrooms)
Items also in the large share:
Basil ** [RO] (Commonwealth Farm)
Radishes * [RO] (Rowland's Row Farm)
Hot Pepper Mix * [RB] (All Season's Farm)
Butternut Squash  (Barbee Farms)
Turnips [RB] (Barbee Farms)
* Certified organic.
** Raised without pesticides, organic or otherwise.
RO - Refrigerate Open
RB - Refrigerate in bag/closed container/crisper

I’ll try and share with ya how we use the different items during the week.  And hopefully keep ya in the loop our weekly shipments!