Summertime. Synonymous with the smell of coconut sunscreens, shaved legs after a hidden winter, ice cold margaritas with or without salt, cold salsas full of fresh tomatoes and pungent cilantro sprinkled on top, burgers with melty american cheese charred on the sides, giant salads standing solo for dinner, striped towels swaying in the breeze at their place on the line, bathing suits with crotches full of sand (when you’re a kid anyway), or smelling of chlorine, sweaty foreheads and dirt between the toes. Summertime is a sweet time.
Lindsey, Parker and I took off the other day in search of some good milk in glass bottles and to inquire about CSA’s in our area. You have to know something about me. I’m all about ambiance. Ambiance is half the experience, in my book. You tell me this place has incredible Mexican but it’s right on the highway? I just won’t get that excited about it. So when we pulled up to this one farm, you turn off the road and follow a winding dirt road for a quarter mile. Fields and trees on either side, and then you come to the barn where the CSA gathering and sharing takes place. There, right there, grazing in a little cluster are the cows, room to roam but seemingly fond of staying close together. The very cows who’s milk is in the glass bottles not 200 feet from where they roam. Ambiance.
You know how people used to take many trips to various places to fill their grocery store quota for the week? The butcher was one stop. He knew just what cuts you preferred, how you wanted it cut, whether you reserved the bones for broth or not. Then you got produce at something resembling a farmer’s market, picking out the freshest radishes and a cluster of bananas. Finally, your cheese and milk came from another place still. Many trips, each one fulfilling its duty. Slowly, slower than these days anyway, you rounded out your week’s necessities and the dicing and stirring and cooking and eating could take place. As we all know, grocery stores these days are a one-stop shop. Around the outsides, you’ve got all your absolute musts and snaking through the middle aisles you can fill the gaps with your bagged goodies, the ones that, for the most part, we should be skipping anyway. And ambiance? Well there’s none of that (unless you’re lucky enough to shop at Wegman’s, that is.).
At this CSA, you fill this great canvas bag with your fresh loot: snap peas and cucumbers and kale and scallions. Depending on the time of season, a chalkboard might announce, “Limit: 1 head of romaine this week.” But outside of that, the rules are lax. Just don’t be greedy, an unspoken one. You even get the option to travel on down the road, still on the farm grounds, to pick your own herbs and cut your own wildflowers. It comes at a price, of course, but you’re paying for the whole of it. The earth experience. When I asked a well-seasoned worker a few questions about the CSA like organic or not, GMOs, she laughed, “GMOs? None of that crap on this farm.” I thought, “I like this woman.”
The long and short of it: the one I most want to be a part of has a wait list of, wait for it, about five years. In fact, I distinctly remember considering adding my name to the plethora back when Steve and I were first married. I think I clicked out of the site assuming I’d find another without a wait. My search ended shortly thereafter as I resigned myself to the ambiance-free grocery store, the occasional farmer’s market, and a local farm for my produce-needs. Of course, I wish I’d added my name to the list then.
We visited another CSA that day, but it didn’t quite do it for me like that first one did. It makes sense that I continue as I am, CSA-less, I suppose. We have several weeks this summer where we wouldn’t be around for pick-up and the subsequent greens feast. But one day CSA, one day. I’ll get my hands dirty, clutch my messy bouquet of wildflowers, hear my milk bottles clinking on the floor of the car as I race home to get them in the fridge (and bring them back for a deposit the next week!), and search for recipes that use radicchio and rutubaga.
{picture from my instagram of the cows at the farm}
We had a weekly farm delivery in England and I want to cry I miss it so badly. Everything was organic, fresh, and most of it was actually cheaper than the supermarkets' prices for comparable produce.
Despite the exchange rate, eating organically, sustainably, and ethically was actually much more affordable there, because it's more a part of their culture, particularly in Yorkshire farm country.
The CSAs I've found around us here in NC are either crazy pricey, have limited organics, or don't serve our area (and are 1+ hours away for pick-up). So I stick to Whole Foods and try to hit the good farmers' markets (1 hour away, again) when I can.
I posted our deliveries on my blog for the last year or so: http://www.peachandthistle.com/search/label/farm%20delivery%20Friday
the cheaper than supermarket price is huge – even though i love the local farm/farmer's market for my produce, i don't think i always get the best deal! ah well…
That's it. I want to join a CSA. And I want one with open fields and winding dirt paths. Talk about taking in the entire experience.
I hear ya. I really want to join a CSA, but where we are right now in life — location and phase, just won't allow it. One day though…
Beautiful writing, it read like a song!! You didn't happen to be at Crescent Ridge Farm were you? I was debating signing up for their fresh milk delivery but have the same "one day" thoughts myself and haven't done it.
Megan
i wasn't! but now i want to check out that place!
Try green meadows in Hamilton, although it may be a little late to sign up this year, most farms are starting their shares this week
I love your writing.
thank you devon!!
i so wish we had csa's here in australia. and i totally agree with you on the importance of ambiance.
they exist! Especially for organic meat. And from all I've heard, they are quickly gaining ground. Not sure where you are, but here's an example of a great one in Perth: http://perthorganics.vpweb.com.au/default.html
that sounds so fun! now i want to hunt for them in cali
we've tried 3 different CSAs in our time in Boston. Silverbrook, Red Fire, and this year The Neighborhood Farm. It's so fun! The strawberry picking at Red Fire was incredible. Silverbrook gave little extras like cheese, honey, flowers, mustard, jams. I liked that. Red Fire had free pick your own. Loved that, but we only got out to the farm once. The pickup was annoying for both places, so this year I opted for TNF because they distribute at the farmers market just 2 blocks from me! Another cool feature is you pick out whatever you want and pay for it out of your account (they up your initial share investment 15%) Anyway, I'm curious what you picked, also the one with a 5 year wait!? but I'm guessing you like maintaining a level of anonymity. 🙂 Have you been to the Allandale farm store? Dreamy.
hey lady! email me and i can give you deets!
and yes, the pick your own part is so dreamy – i never actually picked one, mostly because we'll be away a lot of july… bummer.
I've never heard of a CSA but I just google'd it and we have one in Tulsa and that is close to where I live. Thanks for the information!
they can be absolutely incredible. some have more rules than others — i.e. you must take one head of lettuce, one bunch of leeks, one bunch of spinach… and you end up w/ things you really don't cook with/eat/like. others it's super open and you take what you want (within reason). i'd opt for one that's more open!
I totally agree with you about ambiance! I just started following your blog and this post was so exciting because we JUST made a similar decision (and I wrote about it today on my own blog!).
For us, it's a slightly different ambiance. We live in downtown Montreal, so far from any real farm land, but our CSA is through a cool farm called Lufa Farms that has organic greenhouses on city rooftops all over Montreal, and our local + organic produce comes from there! Neat 'cause it's right here in the city, beautifying it, and we don't have to leave our context to get the ambiance and benefits you wrote about.
ours doesn't have fresh flowers though… that would be glorious.
i've visited montreal once and loved it too, by the way! such a cool city. and i think a cool ambiance can be found anywhere–cities alike!
I am lucky enough to go to Wegmans on a regular basis. They definitely win on ambiance, some of their stuff is better priced/quality than other places, sometimes not but it is a cool place to shop. CSA's sound neat and there are plenty of them around me as well., I'll have to check them out. I also have a bunch of farm stands but it's tough to tell what's from their farm and what's brought it. There's nothing like a fresh tomato on a salad or a fresh strawberry.
ohhh wegmans. so jealous. have you had their chocolate cake? OH MY WORD.
i love that "crotches full of sand" is in a post about want for fresh produce.
Also, your description of ambience has me nodding my head. Yes, please! But I have accepted that ambience for my family will come on the weekends, when we retreat from the city. For now, relationships will have to suffice.
As far as eating locally goes—just do it! Even if you're away for some of the summer. Eating locally will ALWAYS be more expensive than the grocery store (fair wages here as opposed to countries we import cheap produce from has everything to do with that) but local will ALWAYS taste better, be healthier and moreover, better for the local economy and long-term viability of farm land in your region. "Use it or lose it" is a tried and true mantra for preserving farm land. And that is my soapbox today!!
you're right!! treat every purchase like a 'vote' — and the fair wages is something worth supporting, no doubt about it!!
This post just completely transported me faraway from this dreary Tuesday afternoon! I have my first CSA pick-up today — Next Barn Over through the Clover CSA here in Boston — and cannot wait!
oooh! enjoy!!
That "farm" has a blog, too! I've had a share for many years, and you're right! It's awesome!
Not sure if this is available in your area, but I do door to door organics and it is delivered to you. you pick out what you want and they deliver every week unless you don't need it that week you can choose. They buy locally whenever possible, you don't get the benefit of going there but get the benefits of the good food. I think they have these kind of services in most places…
there is something like that in my area i believe!!
Ah, CSAs. My favourite. We get one Fall/Winter, and Spring/Summer CSA here in Ontario. We get a "surprise" box of 8-10 veggies & fruits every 2 weeks, delivered for pick-up right around the corner. The off season share is organics mostly shipped in, but everything else comes from local farms. Can't beat the quality for the price, and it's just fun to try new things every time!(And to discover the perfect way to fix that less-than-favourite veg.)
Put a farmer’s market on your back porch!
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🙂
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how cool! thank you for sharing kristen!!!
Thank you…hope you didn't mind my posting. It's just such a great option! The no need to weed and abundance of produce is fantastic!
And I love the quote you posted today. Far too many people feel the need to be right. I so agree with the importance of being kind!
don't mind at all!!
🙂 Have a fantastic weekend!!
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http://www.dress-pink.blogspot.com
Oh just reading this made my heart sing. My organics come from a small garden in my side yard that this year might be getting over watered from the heavy rain.. that I save in a bucket for our dry days. Anyway.. I could literally feel my mouth turn upward as I read all of this… oh I just want a farm of my own where my cows make and keep my own clinking milk bottles filled. (Even though I don't drink milk but you get the idea) Is that too much to ask?
pidg, you and me both. i say we move to a commune together? you share w/ me all your parenting wisdom and i will weed the gardens.
We are so lucky to have so many CSA options in the Bay Area. The one I belong to is a couple hours away, but they deliver a delicious box of produce to me every three weeks and I get so excited! We also have two farmers markets within walking distance, where there are booths upon booths of farmers selling the produce they grew with their very own hands, cheese they made, etc. It's lovely.
FIVE YEARS! Unreal!
I appreciate your picky-ness concerning CSA's.
And I can't imagine how much harder it would be to feed a family on the (sometimes) rando stuff that comes in a CSA basket.
And I love that cow photo.
And holy shiznit FIVE YEARS. Move to California.