Sport Hill Farm’s 2011 CSA program has begun. I have been looking forward to this since I bought my share in March.  Community Supported Agriculture is a gratifying approach to getting involved in farming when, like me, you don’t have the right land or the talent. In case you haven’t heard of CSAs, Sport Hill gives this solid description on their Web site:

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is a relatively new alternative food system in our area. It is an agreement, for one growing season, between a Farmer and a group of interested people. We are entering our 5th year providing such a service for our area. The CSA program helps support small family farms by providing them with working capital in advance to purchase seeds, fuel for the greenhouse, etc. In return the CSA participant receives fresh, organic, seasonal produce each week. We grow everything provided in your weekly share, it is not a farm to farm share. All produce your receive is harvested the morning of pick-up or even picked when you arrive.

Patti’s CSA program feeds 150 families for 21 weeks.

When you join a CSA, you’re in a partnership with the farmer and take on a portion of the risks and rewards of farming. Nature is unpredictable and in any given year, some crops will do poorly, maybe even fail, while others will flourish and maybe even produce bumper crops.

Belonging to a CSA is a learning experience. Just as we do when we buy from the local farms at the farmers markets, we learn what grows and grows well in our region. We learn how food is supposed to taste when it is freshly harvested. We learn about foods we might ordinarily not try. We learn new ways of preparing some foods that keep on giving and giving. We learn Nature’s calendar, that we can’t have fresh, local salsa on Memorial Day, and that corn is only knee high by the Fourth of July in these parts! We start to appreciate the bounty when Nature delivers, in her own time.

My first CSA was with Waldingfield Farm in 2008 and it was a very positive experience. I came to think of them as my farmers and imagined I would do this forever.  Sadly, due to scheduling and location logistics, I’ve been unable to participate in a CSA since. I am grateful to Patti for having a late night AND for having her farm on my route home from work! A big thanks to Kenneth for cheerfully packing up the greens!

The CSA Week #1 Bounty

As you might expect from the first week of June in CT: salad greens!

• 2 heads of speckled Romaine lettuce
• 4 heads of Deer Tongue heirloom lettuce
• a bag of Arugula
• a bag of Komatsuna

Patti has also started an Eat Local Challenge and would like us to post our recipes featuring our local fare. This is hardly an intriguing recipe, but here’s my salad:

A mix of 1/3 each by weight of speckled Romaine, Deer Tongue, and Arugula.

The dressing: three parts olive oil to two parts red wine vinegar and a little salt.

Toss.

For a nondescript salad, it was pretty darn tasty. And fresh. Very fresh.

You never know, though. I might actually post a worthy recipe. The week is still young and there’s lots more lettuce in the fridge!