CSA

Today is our last pick-up for our CSA subscription this year. We really enjoyed it and will definitely be signing up for next year. It took some adjustments in the way we plan and cook meals, but they were usually tasty adjustments and even the failures were fun experiments.

Family Harvest is an all-produce CSA run by two farms: YellowWood in Hermann and Lee Farms in Truxton. We got mostly vegetables, but also all the watermelon we could eat in the summer and 2-4 baking apples each week of September and October.

They offer full shares and half shares. Our half share was plenty for two of us, stopping just short of overwhelming. In the summer, there were times when nearly every meal needed to include something from the CSA box in order to keep up. The fall has been just as abundant, but things keep better -- we'll be eating sweet potatoes, potatoes, and squash from our CSA boxes for several weeks to come.

The CSA has been my single best way to save money on food in 2008. For a half share, it worked out to about $1.75 a pound. That's the advertised rate and is a good price to pay for produce even at the grocery store, much less locally grown using organic methods. Since there were weeks we got more than the advertised ten pounds in our box, the cost turns out to be somewhat lower and an even better deal.

And, the CSA was my longest running healthy habit of 2008. Getting a steady stream of produce in the kitchen meant that I consumed a steady stream of healthy fruits and vegetables.

Family Harvest plans to take 65 more subscriptions next year than they did this year, so there is an opportunity for new members. They are working on the 2009 brochure and will be mailing it soon. If you want me to put you in on the mailing list, email your snail mail address to my yahoo email (joyweesemoll) and I'll send it to Family Harvest.