I know I owe everyone an update on the garden, and it's coming soon. But something exciting just popped up today that I thought I'd share.
Rob sent me an email at work this morning to let me know that a local CSA we've heard about now has 8 shares available for this year, on a first-come, first-served basis. We quickly checked out their website and found out that Fair Shares is actually a CCSA (Combined Community Supported Agriculture) co-op that combines items from various local, sustainable growers and bakers. Then we looked into what comes with a share, which is:
- for $8/week: 1 lb of humanely raised, hormone-free meat (this could be trout, a whole chicken, beef, pork, ground bison, various sausages, or lamb - we've already arranged for a friend to buy lamb from us, since I despise the stuff)
- for $22/week: 6-8 varieties of produce & herbs (again, the same friend has graciously agreed to buy any extra tomatoes and squash we may have when our garden starts to bear fruit)
- for $5/week: fresh goat or cow milk cheese, whichever is available from the co-op that week
- for $3.75/week: one dozen free-range eggs
- for $4/week: 1 lb of local pasta or a loaf of local bread
- for $8/week: other stuff (coffee, chocolate, peanut butter, honey, or other sundry items)
So, for a grand total of $50/week, we'd get nearly everything we need to eat yummy and healthy meals. I'd guess we'll need to supplement with milk, yogurt, fruit, chocolate, and some bulk grains (for making home-made granola and bread).
I just signed us up, and our fingers are crossed that we'll be accepted to receive a share. Wish us luck - I'll keep you updated!
UPDATE: WE GOT IN - WE PICK UP OUR FIRST SHARE TOMORROW!
6 comments:
How lucky! I'm jealous. We were too late to get into a local CSA this year and it only included fruits and veggies. I'd love to get in on a bread/pasta CSA!
Will,
Yes, we do feel lucky to have been able to join so late in the game. This is a new CSA (I believe it started up just this year), and now that they're a few weeks into their year they've adjusted their number of shares to match the produce and such they've had access to. Sorry to brag, but we picked up our first share last night and can't wait to eat the fresh pasta!
Wow, how nice to have all the additional options to just produce. Ours has produce shares and goat cheese shares. Various meats come in at different times and can be purchased outright although they usually take deposits upfront. Local eggs are available for sale, but not through shares. And a few other local products are available for sale - coffee, honey, herbal teas, kimchi and sauerkraut. I love the idea of just paying for the share, though, and picking it all up weekly. Enjoy!
Chile,
Yes, we are definitely excited not to have to run around and find all the various items at different markets around town. I do wonder whether we'll feel more distanced from the process this way, since we'll be receiving our share from the folks who operate the CSA rather than the growers themselves. We will, however, need to supplement with additional meat, milk and some produce, so maybe that will let us connect more with the folks that produce all this great food.
Hi, Lori! I'm the other St. Louis county One Local Summer participant. We're in Kirkwood -- practically neighbors! I'm looking forward to seeing your posts on it.
How is Fair Shares working out for you? We're using a more traditional CSA with just veggies, but it doesn't start for a few weeks yet.
joy,
It's great to hear from another South County neighbor! We had originally looked into more traditional CSA's, but they all seemed to be full, so when we saw that Fair Shares had a few slots open up, we pounced. I have to say that Fair Shares has been interesting (I mean that in a good way) so far. Because many of their produce farmers have been hit hard by the flooding this spring, they've been very slow to have any green stuff at all - our first batch of spinach and broccoli showed up this week, which is nice. The women who run it are doing a great job keeping the value of the share steady despite unexpected unavailability of some items. What they've been doing instead of the veggies is including less seasonal things like dried beans and rice, peanut butter, coffee, flour, pancake mix and other goodies that are all locally sourced. If you're curious about what exactly we get from them, I'm planning a post later today on what we got in our bag o' goodies this week.
Yep, I'm looking forward to the OLS challenge - my husband and I are new to the local eating phenomenon, though my sister is an old pro at this (her blog was the reminder I needed to get off my duff and do something more sustainable with my life), so I do have help if I need it. I would guess we'll start with breakfast first, then work our way up to a full dinner. Hopefully we'll be able to get good recipes and ideas from other participants...
Anyway, thanks for commenting, and I'm sure we'll be in touch!
Post a Comment