The CSA is now MIA

How was your weekend? Despite a tough loss Saturday night for my beloved Buckeyes, we had a great weekend in Sweet Pea-ville. One of the “icing on top” aspects of the weekend was the gorgeous weather. If I could press pause on the weather cycle at September, and leave it there most of the year, I would be a happy camper. With the cooling weather though comes the realization that summer is about to end. This fact was reiterated by our receiving our last CSA delivery, our last farm fresh delivery until next May. At least, I think next May…I’ve been mulling our CSA experience and can ratchet it down to these bullet points: Pros: *Farm fresh, locally grown produce delivered to my back porch, once a week…very cool! *Receiving unique and heirloom varieties of certain vegetables that I have never seen in our grocery store *The good vibe I get from supporting a chemical-free, small family farm *Loads of fresh produce=eating lots of fresh produce=healthier eating *The boys’ excitement at seeing what would show up on our back porch, and the resulting interest in eating what was on our back porch Cons: *A CSA is a lot of work! For busy parents, the time it takes to shell peas, husk a dozen or more corn cobs or snap pound upon pound of green beans definitely puts a dent in your schedule (but then again, maybe this is a good thing?) *When a crop is at its high season, there is a lot of said crop. This requires freezing or canning, which isn’t the end of the world, but again, takes some time. *Some crops can’t be frozen or preserved (ie, lettuce) and at one point in early summer I ate so many salads I almost made myself sick *Lack of control…I actually enjoyed the idea of eating what was ready to be picked each week, but it did require a degree of flexibility in meal planning and menu choices. *(and this is a big one)With the CSA, my trips to the Farmer’s Market weren’t as fun. Most weeks of the CSA, the last thing I needed was fresh produce, so going to the Farmer’s Market was full of lots of window/stand shopping. So will the Sweet Peas do the CSA again? We're almost an assured "yes," but I share these thoughts for anyone who might be mulling joining a CSA in the future. SPC
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