Ambitious Delicious(ness)

My participation in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) came to an end around Thanksgiving week. It’s hard to believe that 26 weeks went by so quickly! Since many people have been asking me questions about my experience, I thought I’d dedicate a post to the positives and the negatives, as well as share some photos.

Generally speaking, it was a good experience. I enjoyed anticipating what I would get each week by refreshing the Golden Earthworm website a bazillion times every Tuesday morning. The type of seasonal crops varied each week, as we received the best crops from that particular week. I looked forward to Tuesdays and planned my menu around the vegetables would get.

Here are some positives:

- It was great to receive organic, in-season produce at a reasonable price. I did the math and the produce came out to about $10 a week.

- I loved that I was supporting local agriculture in NY.

- Freshness: the produce was not only fresh, but it tasted great(yes, Tony The Tiger style). My favorites were the fresh herbs and garlic!

- I was introduced to new types of vegetables, such as kohlrabi, Cippolini onions, celery roots, purple potatoes, rhubarb, just to name a few.

- It helped me discover new cooking methods, as well as learn that certain parts of specific items are not meant to be eaten. Oops.

- Having half a share helped me not waste food since one share would have been too much for 2 people.

Here are some negatives:

- I had to commit to picking up the goods every Tuesday. I got used to it, and had my sister help me out when I couldn’t make it out there. But it’s definitely a chore. (If you don’t pick it up, they donate the leftovers to charity).

- As I mentioned above, sharing was good but also bad at times. Since we split everything down the middle, I sometimes had to get creative and figure out what to do with half of a small acorn squash, or 3 beets.

- It was fine when I was able to think ahead, but I begrudingly threw away some vegetables because I was busy, even with my half share.

- Naturally, since the produce was direct from the farmer, I had to wash everything extra carefully as to not chew on sand as I eat my arugula salad(yum).

- It’s not fun when you get something you don’t really like (for me, radishes) for three weeks in a row. I think I ended up giving them away.  

All in all, it was a great experience and I would highly recommend it! As long as you are able to plan out your meals well, this experience should be a positive one. I didn’t sign up for the winter share because I don’t want to be outside when it’s snowing (read: I’m lazy) but I may think about doing it again in the spring. If you’re interested, you can go here and look up relevant information for your particular area!

Many thanks for my CSA partner Yvo of Feisty Foodie for being such a great person to share produce with!