Hey there friends! How was your weekend? Did you make the preserved lemons? What did you think?
The Kiwi and I went down to Georgia to run in our very first 5k. We both run pretty regularly, but neither of us had much desire to do it competitively. My dad, however, is very much a competitive runner. Last Father’s Day, in a moment of insanity, I volunteered to run a race with him. Thankfully we were still in Germany, so that bought us a long time before we actually had to do it, but Saturday, Race Day had arrived. Overall, we were really pleased. I set a new PR and the Kiwi got 2nd in his age group! Not bad for a first go at the whole race thing.
Also exciting, we got our confirmation from Blue Meadow Farms, and I am so incredibly pumped to be a part of their CSA this year. This is our first time doing one and I sure am excited to see what Blue Meadow Farms has in store for us!
As I’m sure most of y’all know, CSA stands for community supported agriculture and is an arrangement where you’re basically buying into shares of a farm’s harvest. The money you put in helps cover the operational costs of running a farm for the season and in turn you get a share of the harvest. It’s a great way to support and get to know local farmers and to get local, organic produce on the cheap.
We really like our fruits and veggies so fresh produce tends to eat up our weekly grocery budget—organic produce at the likes of Whole Foods and EarthFare isn’t cheap my friends. For what we spend in total on three weeks of groceries, we will get fresh produce every week for six months. That breaks down to less than $15 a week which is way less than what we spend on produce and if that isn’t a great deal, I don’t know what is.
Being a part of a CSA is also a great way to know what’s in season. In the land of plenty, we can get anything we want at any time of the year, but just because we can doesn’t mean we should. Produce that is in season is always going to taste better than the stuff that’s been in cold storage. Because of the constant cycle, eating close to nature this way also ensures you don’t get burnt out on certain foods.
If you’re in the WNC area and looking for a CSA, Blue Meadow Farms is still taking members, so be sure to go check them out. If you’re not in our area, you can visit LocalHarvest and find a CSA near you that will fit your family’s needs. Since we are just a family of two, we opted for a half-share that is delivered every week, but each CSA is different. There are usually lots of CSA options in any given area, so just do your research and pick the one that works best for you. I really want to encourage you to at least check it out. Run the math and see how much you can save by eating locally and getting great quality produce from the folks just down the road from you that are growing food.
Aside from saving a wee bit of moolah, I’m also really excited about getting produce in our box that I might not have otherwise bought. I am looking forward to stretching my creativity and coming up with some ballin’ new recipes! That means y’all get new recipes too, so really everyone is a winner here.
Have you guys ever participated in a CSA? What did you love about it? Any surprise veggies?!
Now that spring has sprung, if you’re needing some inspiration on the veggie heavy dinner front, here are some of our favorites from the archives:
Kiwi + Peach 