CSA

CSA bins stacked and waiting for their recipients.



The surprise contents of the first week's delivery. The contents are totally dependent on what's ripe the day before.



The princess and the (purple) potato.


I can't believe I forgot to mention the start of the CSA season as one of the things I am oh-so-excited about these days!

For those unfamiliar with the lingo, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, also sometimes referred to as a farm share or co-op. This is our third year with Gathering Together Farm, who just happens to have a weekly drop-off point at our neighbor's house across the street! Every Wednesday morning from June through October, the farm truck rolls up and unloads just-picked fruits and veggies! Seriously, I'm talking about the best fresh produce I've ever had.

The great thing about supporting a CSA is that the money actually goes to the farmers, not to big agriculture. GTF has been a working farm for 22 years, and has offered a CSA for 14. I know Oregon has many such options — maybe your town does too! The GTF website lists member benefits as follows:

• Support a small family farm devoted to working in an ecological and sustainable manner.
  
• Eat locally grown food harvested only a day or so before you pick it up, minimizing shipping and packing costs and maximizing freshness and flavor.
  
• Strengthen our community by reestablishing the link between farmer, food, and families.
  

To that I would add the benefit of raising my daughter to understand that food doesn't come wrapped in little cellophane packages and that fresh produce is not only "good for you", but sooo delicious. Going over to pick up our box of surprise goodies has become an opportunity for many lessons about nature, biology, and organic farming.