OK, I know I sound like a shill, but you should totally buy a share in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program this summer.
I had the best time last year with my weekly pickups from Dennison’s Family Farm in Elora, Tenn. It really did turn into my own version of Iron Chef, having to work with whatever ingredients showed up in the box each week. And since there are few things scarier for my husband to hear than the statement “I made something new for dinner,” it’s somewhat of a miracle that he had a blast with it, too.
It’s a lesson in the natural cycle of crops for those who aren’t used to the whims of Mother Nature. For example, last year’s rains made for a very short corn crop, so I didn’t get nearly the amount of corn I had expected, but I got tons of tomatoes, chard and peppers of all varieties. And strawberries. Not those tasteless baby-fist-sized strawberries you get at the grocery store, but juicy, delectable berries, so many that you can’t eat them all and will be forced to make the best ice cream ever with them. Darn the luck.
Some folks tell me that they just prefer to go to the farmer’s market, which is cool if you like rolling out of bed before 9 a.m. on Saturdays. Which, truthfully, I have been known to do. But what I find myself not doing at the farmer’s market is buying something I’m unfamiliar with, or buying so much of something that I have enough to freeze for later. (I’ve got two more servings of zucchini/onion/garlic soup base in the freezer, and I just ran out of frozen bell pepper slices in January.) Even if you’re not going to get into canning, you can still have a little taste of summer when it’s 30 degrees outside.
Seriously, it was the best summer food-wise that I’ve had since that summer in the early 1980s when my grandfather and I grew a huge patch of watermelons and I ate my weight in fresh tomatoes.
Head to Dennison’s page on LocalHarvest for details on its 10-week program, or search for a CSA closer to you.
Entirely Adequate 
Thanks for the review, and heads-up! Did you get a 1/2 lot or full lot? Also, the way it reads, it sounds like you have to pick it up, but you mention deliveries. Do they bring it to your door for the price on the page?
I also found a page from the same site for beef and pork from a farm right here in Madison, AL. http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M30594 I’m a seriously happy camper.
Thanks again!
I split a full share with a co-worker last year and still had enough for the freezer. A whole share for a two-person household would mean I’d have enough in the freezer for the entire winter, which is awfully tempting.
I’m going to change that to “pickup”; I’m glad you pointed it out. They have a few pickup points around Huntsville; the one I use is on Hughes Road in Madison between Highway 20 and Madison Pike. They set up a strawberry stand in a parking lot there in the spring.
Interesting link for the Madison farm … I want to try to find a local source for chicken and eggs, too.
Thanks, Suzanne, for the vote of confidence and the vrey nice article. We are thrilled to have you as a member of our CSA. The enthusiasm of our members is what makes this all so wonderful for us. We really hope to change the focus of our farm from wholesale to CSA, so please continue to help us enroll new folks. It’s an adventure raising many small crops rather than a few large fields of one thing, but as farmers, we’re always learning and trying new things. I am ordering seeds, so if there is something you desire, better let me know quickly.
As for pick-ups, we are almost sure that we will be able to deliver to SAIC on Odyssey Drive, as well as Hughes Road. Other sites will be determined before June based on where our members live.
If our members are interested, we will try to add a fall CSA this year or next. Maybe spring, too?
I will buy whatever you can pull out of the ground any time of the year. Looking forward to it!
Thanks on the size feedback. http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M4983 for the chicken & eggs, maybe? What a potentially tasty adventure you’ve set us on 🙂
Oh my, that does sound good. Now if only my wife liked veggies… Hmm. Maybe if we go in with someone like you are. Then we might get few enough of the odd ones that if she refuses to eat them the stuff won’t go bad or something
I keep thinking of joining a CSA so I’m glad to hear you liked this one! Their Huntsville pick up location is…not listed as anything other than Huntsville. Do you know where I can look for more info?
Keep an eye on their LocalHarvest page: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/M35060.
Last year I picked up on Hughes Road in Madison, between 20 and Madison Pike. They say they’ll probably add Odyssey Drive at SAIC. Last year they also had a pickup point somewhere on Winchester. They survey where the CSA members live and try to find convenient pickup points – so locations won’t be finalized for a while.
[…] buddy Suzanne, over at Entirely Adequate, posted recently about getting ready for CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and pointed everyone […]