Two years ago I posted about supporting local farmers by subscribing to their farms and receiving local organic produce.  Here's the post from June 2006.  CSAs  and then I posted a photo of the box contents: CSA Box contents  In the first article I list a link for you to discover your own local CSA. 

 I just signed up and am sharing a full share (family of four) with my mom. We're not sharing each individual box, but she'll pick up one week and I'll pick up the next.

This seems to work well. I did this last year with my friend Mary, a sweet neighbor. It seemed to be the right amount of produce for our veggie-lovin' family of three, plus frequent company, and Mary's family of seven last summer.

The price has gone up $145.00 in two years.  I just paid and it was $625.00 but that doesn't include my fifty dollar deposit at the end of last year, and also my $20.00 credit for referring a friend. So the total for the 16 weeks produce before those deductions is $695.00. With my $20.00 discount it averages out to $42.30 per week.  This includes seasonal vegetables, a dozen eggs, fresh herbs, and some extras they throw in like hummus, baba-ganoush, a jar of honey, and at the end of the season I can take all the extra tomatoes I'd like.  I use those to can Chile Sauce, or freeze for pasta sauce. 

 I'll be listing my box contents as I pick it up this summer, so watch for those updates. I'll also check the prices this year against the grocery store near me to see the difference.  I'm going to carefully check to see if this is worth continuing. 

Last year it was $37.00 per week, so we'll have to see if I get less this year due to everything going up, or if it's the same. I do try to serve my family more veggies meals during the CSA season, but we tend to eat lots of fresh veggies and fruits year round.

My chiropractor is signing up his family for the CSA this year and gets very excited about it when we talk about it. I think he thinks it will be a cool farm experience for his little kids to go to the farm to do the pick-up. I told him this farm does not have any farm animals, nor does it have any traditional farm barns, etc. so he wouldn't be dissapointed.  This farm family lives in a traditional home on a piece of land with a green house, and several garden plots scattered around the land.  They get the eggs from another local farmer, so we don't even get to see the chickens. 

The driving distance is 20 minutes from my home, and about 10 minutes for my mom, so I'll also take into consideration the gas prices and mileage of my car.  I'll be interested in seeing if the CSA plus growing some of our own veggies in the garden makes a difference in our grocery bill.