CSA Pickup #17.a

This just in, a note from Jon, who picked up the CSA this week.

It was beautiful on Thursday, and it was a great 10 minute walk over to PS 9, followed by another 5 minutes doing a lap around the school until I finally found an open entrance (it was comforting, as I got to the last side of the building, to see an intermittent procession of people with bags of vegetables- I had arrived).

It was a lot of fun picking out the best-looking little eggplants, potatoes, peppers, and a bunch of other stuff- including a few things that I had no idea what to do with. Luckily, googling provided me with helpful pieces of information about my new bounty, like this Wikipedia entry: "Celeriac can leave quite an unpleasant taste in the mouth a little while after eating." Ok, so not as excited to try the celeriac now, but I've already made a quick and easy mixed greens salad (lettuce, arugula, red bell peppers all from the veg share) and tonight I'll cook up all the sweet corn. I might even have the courage to throw my celeriac in with some mashed potatoes tomorrow night.

So thanks, for the awesome fresh vegetables and for just a fun experience. Joining a vegetable share has been added to my list of things I'd do if I had money.

It sounds like Jon needs the celeriac-happy email the CSA sent out last week. As for having money, here's my take on CSA's. Obviously, we're all likely to end this year with less money than we started with. For some of us, that's a lot, for others, less. Whether we had savings or stocks or not, though, we'll feel the effect. However, it's very likely that if I still live nearby, I'll still join the CSA. It is a lot of money up front, no question. Once that's paid, though, it can make a big dent in my grocery bill for the following six months. The better I am at using it, the more it does for me. There's no pick your own, or other bonanza benefits, but it really feels like getting free vegetables weekly. I haven't done a scientific price comparison, the listings on this blog are as close as I come. There are several reasons for my lack of scientific inquiry, including the variable number of household members and our erratic eating habits. I think it's good value, at least. The other factor that makes an exact comparison hard is that we wouldn't necessarily be buying exactly what the CSA gives us.

That's my clever segue into the other reason I want to continue being a CSA member--the relationship with the farm. My monetary pledge helps Windflower farm exist, and in return I share their fortunes, good or bad. It's a small investment, with a return value that goes beyond the monetary, nudging me toward better eating and better community participation. It's also, as Jon points out, really enjoyable. And that's not small.