Oh, we’ve got produce
Early Morning Farm's first CSA pickup of the year
This morning was our very first ever CSA pickup. CSA = Community Supported Agriculture. Community members buy a “share” of the farm’s harvest for the season, paid up front (sometimes with a negotiatted payment plan). The farmer has job security and financial security, and every one shares in the bounty or hardship of the season.
CSAs vary in their methods of distribution. Some offer pickup at the farm or other location – either a pre-packed box of that week’s offerings, or a system in which the shareholders pick and choose which items they will use best in their household. Some do delivery of each week’s box or bag either to homes or to pick-up locations.
Our CSA, Early Morning Farm, distributes through free-choice pickup at all three regular Ithaca Farmer’s Markets. (And I believe they still have some shares available for this season.) We picked up kale, lettuce, bok choy and broccoli.
For more information on CSAs or to find one near you, check out Local Harvest. For information on some of the CSAs in the Ithaca area, check out Buy Local from Cornell Cooperative Extension.
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Sounds wonderful. I visit the Farmer’s market weekly because I don’t think we’d eat a whole share at my place. I’d love to hear what you think after you’ve spent a season at it.
I’m looking forward to seeing how it works out too. We thought this was really the best setup. We get to choose whatever we want from the weekly selection, with limits for high-value items. I’m hoping to find the magic quotient of what we can use before we end up taking too much and composting it!