Yay for Veggies!

In an effort to eat better and be better to the environment, we recently joined a CSA. I had heard rumors about these for a while, but once I looked into it a little further, I was sold.

"CSA" stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It's a pretty simple idea, actually. Local farmers open their farm up to the community, who is given an opportunity to buy a share in the farm. In return for your purchase of shares, you get a weekly (or bi-weekly) delivery of whatever is being harvested on the farm.

The benefits are many.

I will prepare and eat more veggies. I have a few friends who could benefit from this, as well (Kelly).

I get locally grown produce - fewer petroleum miles used to get it to my table and it was literally harvested this morning, so it's fresh and tasty.

All of the foods are organically grown - always good to have fewer chemicals in your food.

I will get a variety of fruits and veggies I might not normally try if I were buying them at the grocery store. Yay for variety and trying new things!

I'm supporting a local farm. We have enough developed land out here with homes and stores on it. Maybe if having a farm is profitable, it will remain a farm for a while...

They include a bouquet of flowers with each delivery. Fresh flowers are my favorite. And a bunch of herbs!

I could go on, but I think I've made my point. I was so excited to get my first delivery, and I was not disappointed! It arrived this afternoon and was LOADED with good stuff. And a COOKBOOK! I will be leafing through it in a bit to find some neat new recipes. How exciting!

Oh, AND...you can add things to your delivery, too. Like coffee, honey, herbs, etc. Or just add on more of the things you like best. Yay!

Here's a photo of my delivery. I was so excited to find so many bananas...more than what you see here, even! Jacob immediately helped himself.

Bananas, peaches, nectarines, figs, spinach, flower salad (so pretty), tomatoes, eggplant, some sort of green squash-looking thing, some roots (not sure what they are exactly, either), a bunch of mixed herbs, a bouquet of flowers, and some eggs!