Frugal veggies. . . .

Apropos of my new interest in Urban Homesteading, I found an article today that discusses the concept of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). This is a system in which community members work on a local farm for a specified amount of time (for example, two hours a week) in exchange for free produce.

This sounds like a great option for people who live in apartments---I have a small yard, big enough to grow tomatoes, zucchini, and lettuce (my beans are just about ready to put in the ground). I know people who don't have the luxury of a yard, though, and since I'm considering a move to a condo or apartment (I'll discuss this on the blog later when I've thought this through a bit), I felt sad at the 'loss' of space for vegetable growing.

I was curious about opportunities for this in my area, and just did a basic google search on CSA and Portland. It turns out there's a book called Sharing the Harvest, which is described by our local Powell's Bookstore as a must-read for people who are considering either growing their own backyard harvest, or joining a CSA. The authors came to Powell's and spoke on March 10 (darn, I missed it!).

Another valuable bit of information is a link to the Dancing Roots Farm, which offers memberships to individuals who want fresh produce grown locally. According to the website, the cost is $435 for 26 weeks of fresh vegetables (from late May through Thanksgiving). No work on the farm is required. Other benefits? Farm fresh eggs, food preserving workshops (I need this), free range meat orders, and u-pick blackberries. As evidence that the CSA movement is taking off, all the memberships for 2008 are sold out!

I encourage you to do a basic search in your own area. Do you have access to this type of membership through a local farm? What is the cost? Would it be worth it to you and your family to have locally grown, fresh produce available? Can you see yourself working 2 or 3 hours a week on a farm in exchange for produce?