Farm share!

I have been dying to be part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for a few years, and last Dec., finally had the means to do so somewhere local, convenient, and affordable. I went with a farm in Rocky Hill, CT, Fair Weather Acres. A few of the reasons we went with them:

1. Easy to get to- the farm stand is a 5 minute drive from my house. Pointless to go to a farm where I'd have to drive a significant distance--defeats the whole purpose!
2. Affordable-they have 1/2 shares, and because I paid last Dec, I got a significant discount on our 1/2 share.
3. Variety- Not only do they offer up their vegetables, but they also partner with a local orchard to include fruit in their shares, which was very appealing.
4. A pro I found out after the fact--they box up everything for you, so I literally walked out of my car, they gave me the box and I was on my way. So easy!

The Friday before pickup, they send a facebook post about what they will have in your box the following week. I love that I could figure out recipes (and what else I'd need to grocery shop for) BEFORE I pick up the box. I created a Pinterest board to post recipe ideas so that I'd have easy access to them.

This was the first week of pick-up--I was looking forward to this for MONTHs, and it was finally here.
My box included:

• a gigantic head of red leaf lettuce (the size of 2 head!)-yum!Nothing like fresh lettuce!
• collard greens (never had them, but tried them-decent)
• kale (one of my favorites to make caldo verde, but made kale chips this week)
• spinach (love spinach, but haven't decided what I'm going to do with it yet)
• bok choy (I'd be happy to never have this in my box again!)
• was supposed to get radishes, but they weren't ready, so they gave me an annual plant

They also have a swap table--if you don't like something you take it out and leave it, and you can pick up something else that you might like more of. 

If I get more bok choy next week, it is definitely getting left on the table.... hopefully someone won't want their kale!

I'm excited to see what the summer brings. We have a garden in our backyard, so I'll be interested to see if I will still want to plant vegetables after a summer of the CSA--I might be able to get some yard back, and just do strawberries, blueberries, and garlic next year.