Green Bag Special

This is what I'll look like doing my share at the CSA this summer.

Just a few short weeks ago, I had never heard the term “CSA.”  I happened across an ad on Craigslist offering bags of organic, farm-grown vegetables delivered weekly.  I was immediately intrigued and began investigating.  CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.

People become members of a CSA by paying a fee to join.  The farm uses the money to purchase plants for their garden, and in return, they promise the members a share of the harvest.  Each CSA has different prices and offerings.  You will have to decide whether to purchase a whole share or a half share, if that option is available.  For us, since we are light vegetable eaters, we are going with a half share for this year.  If that doesn’t fulfill our needs this year, we will know to get a whole share next year.

Some CSAs are limited to the veggies grown on the individual farm, while other farms have joined forces with others who grow fruit, raise meat, collect eggs, bake bread, and etc.   Members can then add on shares for the optional items.

Many CSAs give you a discount on your vegetable share if you agree to help harvest the veggies.  Next week, our CSA is having a meeting for members, where we will sign up for our work dates.  Though I’m not known to be the outdoors type, I am actually eager to participate in the vegetable harvesting.  Some friends from work are also signed up for our CSA, so it will be fun if we are able to work on some of the same dates.

If you are interesting in finding a local CSA, a good website is Local Harvest.  You can search for CSAs based on location and based on the types of shares available.  After researching various local CSAs, we went with the one advertised on Craigslist because they deliver to our local area.  Not all CSAs offer this service, but we are happy to have it available to us.   Other CSAs expect you to pick up your share at the farm or at a mutually-agreed upon location (sometimes a local farmer’s market, where the farm is selling other goods).

I’m just five days away from receiving my first green bag special.  Woohoo!