Fresh Veggies all Summer Long: Our First Experience with a CSA

It is now safe to say that summer is officially over. The temperatures have cooled down to below freezing at night, there is now less sunlight than night, and we picked up our final share of farm-fresh veggies last week from our CSA farm. What is a CSA you ask? It stands for Community Shared Agrilculture, which is a program where you have a direct relationship with the farmer and where your veggies grow. We payed $365 at the beginning of the season and picked up our fresh veggies every Monday from June through September.

There are a handful of CSA farms in and around Fairbanks, but I am glad we picked Calypso Farm (click for link). I had the opportunity to go to the farm a couple of times to help out with farm, talk with the wonderful farmers, Susan, Christie, and the other farm hands, and get my hands dirty! I was able to help out with some thinning of the carrot plants in the early season, and then in August I was able to help with their compost pile. The season officially concluded on September 27th with their annual auction and benefit dinner, a nearly 100% locally grown meal. I volunteered to help in the kitchen in the morning and chop veggies. It was such a satisfying experience to be with other friendly faces from the community and help prepare such a delicious meal.

Mondays were always a fun day for me as I looked forward to our weekly veggie pick-up. In August we were able to go to the farm and pick up our share, picking a bag of sweet snap peas straight from the vines. Those were yummy!! If you are wondering how to get your kids to like veggies, take them to a farm and pick their own veggies. They just taste so much better.

Take a look at some of our weekly pick ups:

In the early season we were able to enjoy veggies like romaine lettuce, napa cabbage, herbs, and bok choy.

Then came carrots, summer squash, cauliflower, and onions.

The end of the season brought more hearty veggies such as turnips, potatoes, brussels sprouts, and celery.

Each week was full of delicious veggies. We were never disappointed. Here are some of my favorite veggies:

Beets
Salad turnips
Romanesco Cauliflower
Kohlrabi
Fresh carrots (seriously these are a "million times better" than the store bought ones, quoted by my husband. No peeling required.)

I suppose I could go on with my favorite veggies with a list of all the veggies we had, but that would be redundant. We had such a successful and wonderful summer with our first CSA. We plan on doing it wherever we live.

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