One more month! One more month! YAY! I can't wait for the sweet taste of fresh food. And honestly, I need the obligation to eat fresh food again. Lately, I have been a little bad at eating vegetables. I never have a problem with fruit, but veggies sometime I get a little uninspired. Especially because we are currently trying to eat through our fridge and freezer and not buy too much extra....BECAUSE (drum roll, please)...we bought a house!! We close at the beginning of June and are taking the month to move. So throughout the summer I am sure I will be writing about my house adventures along with food. :-)
Just to refresh everyone's memory, here are the details of my CSA.
I get my CSA from Ridgeland Harvest located in Viroqua, WI. We get a Standard Share every week from June 13th to October 24th. Each share is filled with local, seasonal produce, basically all vegetables except for a couple weeks of berries. This year Ridgeland is offering several different size/frequency options for the CSA. You can get either a Standard Share (Feeds 1-3 ppl) or a Double Share (Feeds 3-5 ppl). Then you can decide if you want to get your deliveries every week or every-other week. I love the option of every other week for people that are new to CSAs. Its a great way to try new, fresh vegetables and receipes but not be overwhelmed with getting through it each week. Our CSA is $425 which is $25 per week. BUT remember, that many Health Insurances will give you money back through their Wellness programs. Around here it is $100 for singles and $200 for families which is a HUGE help. Once we get the checks back it will only be $11.80 a week! What a steal!
Here is the link to our CSA Farm.
http://www.ridgelandharvest.com/csa
For anyone that wants to try a CSA for the first time, make sure to do your research. There are so many options and there is definitely one to fit each family's life tyle. Look into size of the shares, frequency of deliveries, location of pick-ups and type of food. Some farms are vegetables only, while some have meat, eggs, fruit, cheese and even bread! Below are some links to CSA Farm Directories for a couple of cities. These are great resources when choosing a CSA or even just to get to know the farms in your area.
Madison Area
http://www.csacoalition.org/
Milwaukee Area
http://urbanecologycenter.org/what-we-do/csa-farmers.html
Minneapolis Area
http://landstewardshipproject.org/stewardshipfood/csa
Another exciting thing happening this summer is B and I decided to get a salmon share. We will be getting 2-4lbs of salmon 3 times throughout the summer; each a different type from Alaska. We are going through an organization called Sitka Salmon Shares, possibly the first Community Supported Fishery. Basically, we sign up for a share, then the organization reaches out to small boat family fishermen in Alaska to catch the fish. These fishermen depend on the shares to bring them stable income. I am really excited to start looking into new fish recipes. I just started liking fish in the last 5 years. I am hoping this will be a good way to push my boundaries and work fish into my weekly repitoire.
Sitka Salmon Shares
http://www.sitkasalmonshares.com/community-supported-fishery-idea.html
Finaly, with buying a house comes buying a nice big freezer. Having a big freezer means the potential to buy 1/4 cows and 1/2 hogs! We haven't pre-ordered one yet but I wouldn't be surprised if we end up getting one this Fall.
So much to look forward to! Hope everyone is enjoying the 80 degree weather. I know we sure are! Next weekend we are going to Charleston for the long weekend where I will proceed to eat my way through the city. Pictures and stories to come!
