Is a cSA share right for you, pt. 1
A few years ago, Cassie, a fellow farmer-friend of ours, posed these questions with the goal of creating a dialogue around what it means to be a member of a CSA. Our responses aim to address some of the most frequently asked questions and to give you a sense of who we are and what we do. If you’re wondering whether or not a CSA with Woven Roots Farm is right for you, ask yourself the following questions:
Do you want to taste and use new vegetables?
Successful CSA membership requires being open to new vegetables and new food preparation. We grow over 50 crops utilizing a tight successive crop schedule and season extenders, which translates to VARIETY. Some of our crops stick around for most of the season and you can expect to find these staples week in and week out. Others, however, put on a short and sweet show for only a handful of weeks. If you are joining our CSA with a sense of curiosity and adventure, we can help expand your veggie palate. You are going to discover some vegetables that you LOVE, some that amuse you, some that inspire you. You are also going to encounter some vegetables that you just don't really like, no matter which way you look at it. But not a season goes by though that someone is not pleasantly surprised by a new flavor we’ve introduced them to.
how much control do you need in your weekly menu plan?
The vegetable choices on any given week will always be determined by what’s available in the field. While grocery stores offer near constant availability of vegetables, a CSA does not. Grocery stores source their veggies from far and wide, sometimes offering food that was not even grown in the same country, let alone the same state or town as you. Our CSA is proud to offer every item fresh from our farm. Over the course of 22 weeks, we guide you through the experience of eating seasonally. CSA-sourced meals generate a series of moments that capture the flavors of now. Savoring, for example, the short burst of Sungold Tomatoes, is an exercise in gratitude, and highlights a moment to look forward to when the dark and cold of winter is around us. Savoring these moments gives us pause, and can carry us through the more challenging moments of life. This is seasonal living. We are here to help you experience that through our weekly produce and recipe offerings.
are you willing to learn to eat the cSA way?
Eating the CSA way is going to teach you to do two things that are probably new to you: to eat a veggie-dense diet and to eat with seasonal ingredients. Transitioning to veggie-dense, seasonal cooking has a learning curve. Most of us were not taught to cook or eat this way, and like learning anything new it takes time to adjust. Most of our members say it’s not until their 2nd season with us that they feel like they really get the hang of using all of the vegetables. But we're here to help and so are all of the other CSA members who have participated for many years! We offer weekly recipes to help inspire you and we’ve got all the tricks for storing, preserving, and freezing anything you want to savor for those cold winter moments we talked about.