Community Supported Agriculture

On Saturday I took my oldest son Zane and headed to Richmond to visit Green Earth Farm. This year our family bought a CSA share in the farm and we went to visit for the first time and pick up some early produce.

When you are part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) you pay an upfront cost at the beginning of the growing season and in exchange you get a weekly share of the farm's crops. This means that from June to October I'll get a weekly box containing a variety of fresh picked heirloom produce that is certified naturally grown.

I first joined a CSA in 2010 and often got vegetables I had never cooked with before. This year I'm more prepared and excited to try new recipes when the weird veggies show up. I'm growing my own garden too and hoping I get lots of good things from it but for variety I'm excited to see what my CSA farm will provide.

First we went to the hoop house to check out what was growing. This hoop house is great for protecting the tender veggies and extending the growing season. Zane was anxious to explore everything so we didn't stay in there long.

Zane took one picture of me...I took thirty of him. That's parenting, right?

Zane enjoyed the tire swing next to the goat pen. A lot of kids were swinging on it at first so he had to wait a while to get it to himself.

There were lots of free range poultry running around. I had to restrain Zane from chasing them.

Here's all the fresh picked produce that was the main reason for our visit. Our kind farmers told us to take as much as we wanted so that's what we did. We had leafy lettuces, kale, swiss chard, mint, chives, thyme and oregano to choose from. I had planned on homemade pizza for dinner Saturday night and it got spiced up when I added oregano and thyme to the toppings and of course we had to added a leafy lettuce salad to the meal..

The weekend outing ended up being just what I needed to calm my soul and get me in touch with nature. It was fun to go with just my oldest son and explore the farm together.

To find a farmers' market or CSA in your area, search the site Local Harvest.