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CSA Report
Jun. 5th, 2008 03:56 pmOne of the things I'm going to do on my LJ this summer is report on things I'm getting from my CSA. I know a few people who are interested in seeing whether I love it/hate it/drown in produce, so this should be a good weathervane.
Our setup came about because we've got an instructor at Ole Miss whose specialty is sustainable agriculture. She cleverly organized a group of CSA subscribers this summer and negotiated with Farmer J at Ohana Farms. We get a mass delivery to the Biology building on campus, and split the delivery cost (usually $100). However, it's worth pointing out that Farmer J hasn't actually charged us for delivery yet, so it could be that he's got enough patrons in Oxford that it's worth his while.
In the past, one of my big concerns with subscribing to a CSA was the size of the shares. They say a half-share - the smallest unit you can buy - is enough to feed a family of two. I am not a family of two. But another single girl and I have gone in together for a half-share, so I basically get a quarter-share of produce once a week.
This is already shaping up to be a lot, especially if you don't eat at home every day. I've still got leftovers from last week's delivery (our first of the season). I definitely recommend no more than a quarter-share per person, unless you like to cook for your friends a LOT. (I strongly suspect that cooking for my friends is going to be my recourse when I am up to my eyeballs in sweet potatoes this fall. That, or I'll eat nothing but sweet potato fries all winter. That would be okay, too. ♥ ♥ ♥ Sweet potato friiiiies.)
Ohana also offers meats and shares of eggs and milk. Or you can go by the farm and buy things piecemeal there. I fully intend to make a road trip up there some weekend; Farmer J encourages people to come and look around. (Doesn't Michael Pollan say this is the surest proof that you're getting food you can feel good about eating?) Drop me a line if you're interested in tagging along.
So, this week's delivery:
Our setup came about because we've got an instructor at Ole Miss whose specialty is sustainable agriculture. She cleverly organized a group of CSA subscribers this summer and negotiated with Farmer J at Ohana Farms. We get a mass delivery to the Biology building on campus, and split the delivery cost (usually $100). However, it's worth pointing out that Farmer J hasn't actually charged us for delivery yet, so it could be that he's got enough patrons in Oxford that it's worth his while.
In the past, one of my big concerns with subscribing to a CSA was the size of the shares. They say a half-share - the smallest unit you can buy - is enough to feed a family of two. I am not a family of two. But another single girl and I have gone in together for a half-share, so I basically get a quarter-share of produce once a week.
This is already shaping up to be a lot, especially if you don't eat at home every day. I've still got leftovers from last week's delivery (our first of the season). I definitely recommend no more than a quarter-share per person, unless you like to cook for your friends a LOT. (I strongly suspect that cooking for my friends is going to be my recourse when I am up to my eyeballs in sweet potatoes this fall. That, or I'll eat nothing but sweet potato fries all winter. That would be okay, too. ♥ ♥ ♥ Sweet potato friiiiies.)
Ohana also offers meats and shares of eggs and milk. Or you can go by the farm and buy things piecemeal there. I fully intend to make a road trip up there some weekend; Farmer J encourages people to come and look around. (Doesn't Michael Pollan say this is the surest proof that you're getting food you can feel good about eating?) Drop me a line if you're interested in tagging along.
So, this week's delivery:
- Turnips - Oh, lots of turnips. I'm going to try something different with them, this week.
- Turnip greens - With wee turnips attached, eeee!
- Kale - Yay, more kale! I finished last week's batch early on.
- Mystery greens - I honestly don't know what these are, beyond some sort of cookable green leafy thing. An e-mail from Farmer J mentions the delivery of rape this week, but there's just no way a google image search to try and identify my greens positively as rape is going to end well. And rape, botanically, can mean any number of different parts of any number of different plants.
