mere cat

Getting Our Share

When I was a little kid, my parents would always tell me “Eat your vegetables.” In those days, vegetables didn’t get much love from me. I could never imagine liking them. Spinach? Yuk! Peas? Blechh! Brussels sprouts? I’d rather die! Yet it has come to pass. We eat vegetables almost every day, mostly purchased from Whole Foods, although Anne has contributed quite an assortment of homegrown fruits and vegetables to the table. And you thought she just grew watermelons.

If we have a problem, it’s only that we eat the same ten or so vegetables over and over. A solution presented itself when I learned about Community Supported Agriculture last year from Jim:

Each Friday we pick up a box full of fresh-from-the-farm-just-picked fruit and veg (flowers and herbs also) and plan a menu for the week.

That sounded great to me. It was too late in the season for us, but we resolved to sign up somewhere for what’s called a “share” next year. That time is now, so I researched our options at Local Harvest. The closest farm to us is the 20-acre Pennypack Farm, but it’s still a 30-minute drive. What we liked about them is their flexibility—they offer small, medium and large shares, and instead of pre-selected shares, they offer the opportunity to choose whatever you want from among the selections that week.

Another option is Covered Bridge Produce, which is more of a farmer’s market than a CSA, however, in that the farm itself is in Berks County instead of near its customers. Like Pennypack Farm, CBP offers a lot of flexibility. Instead of them packing your share, you select exactly what you want from what’s currently available. Your selections are then delivered to one of nearly 25 pickup points in Philadelphia and the northern and western suburbs. The closest pickup point to us is less than 10 minutes away, as close as our supermarket. We decided to go with Covered Bridge Produce this year.

Our season doesn’t start until the week of June 4, 2006. To whet our appetite in the meantime, we spent some time browsing what was offered last season. That first share looks like it will be heavy on the greens. The best part—and the point of all this—is that I’ve never even had half the greens on the list. I’m really looking forward to this.