for about the past six months i’ve been thinking hard about taking part in a local community supported agriculture (csa) program. the csa program basically means thay i buy monthly, quarterly, or yearly share in a local organic farm, and on a weekly basis, the farmer drops off a box of fruits and vegetables 
at a pickup spot in the city, and i go pick up this box, which will make up the bulk of my produce for the week. we were waiting for some friends to move into the city and get settled before we signed up, and with the settling complete, we finally picked a farm and signed up. we decided to go with terra firma farms in winters, ca – i’ve heard some good things about them, they deliver food all year, and it is in the area of the farm my mom grew up on. we decided on the larger box and will see how that works out. the cost? $27 a week for enough vegetables to feed 4 for a week. when sharing with two couples, that ends up being $14 a week for the majority of your fruits and vegetables, which is a bargain itself, as well as the fact that you are promoting sustainability, supporting local farmers, and eating organically and seasonally. . . yeah, $14 sounds good to me.
so last night we picked up 1/2 of the other family who is sharing the box with us, and drove to the very close by drop-off spot, followed the instructions to look behind the gate, and lo and behold, a few pallets stacked high with boxes! we found the one with our name on it, brought it back to car, and took stock of the bounty (as well as divided the food): garlic, potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, sweet peppers, zucchini, arugala, a nice salad mix, beets, carrots, green beans, honeydew melon, and a watermelon – a great haul. we divided everything as best we could and we decided on the honeydew and our friends took the watermelon.
when we got home, i was eager to try some of these new veggies, and threw together a quick meal of pork tenderloin with zucchini and an arugala, carrot, and heirloom tomato salad with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing (will write about that more later) – the veggies tasted great – our first experience with the csa program was a success, and we look forward to our weekly wednesday night surprise.
oh, and i am fully aware that this puts us on the road to being hippes or uber yuppies. . . i’ll let you know how that one turns out.
