Joined a CSA

[ness]

Ness, when I read the title, I thought you may have defected from the Union and joined the Confederate State of America....

Naw -- we fought on the winning/right side over here in the Free State!

So, is it wrong to drive 20 miles in a Honda minivan to a farmers market to buy organic eggs for 20 bucks?

PS: We have no tattoos and wear age appropriate clothing, not from Goodwill.

I smiled when I saw you replied, even before I read it JoeD.

Still ciphering on your question, but the preliminary answer is 'No'. Get your eggs where you gotta, and get there however you can. Good call on the tats. I don't judge clothing unless it impedes normal bodily functions or mobility. Then I pretty much judge silently.

[jdmidwest]

Around here, we have "Farmer's Markets". It does not cost anything to join, and you can walk thru, pick and choose what you want. You are not restricted to what someone wants to send you. Seems to work great. Free market system at its best.

[ness]

Well, ya missed the point there JD. Twice kinda.

[rps]

Long ago the wife and I belonged to a food co-op that functioned in the same way. What I remember is that the produce always needed washing and never included soft items like tomatoes and cucumbers. I am sure your experience will be better.

[ness]

I always wash my produce no matter where I buy it from, so that won't be a burden to me.

Here's what I'm sposta get:

Spring

Beets, green onions, spring garlic, radishes, chard, lettuce

Summer

Tomatoes, squash, cabbage, corn, eggplant, garlic, melons, peppers, onions

Fall

Green beans, lettuce, turnips, winter squash, apples, kale, bok choy

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

I am glad to see you get local food. My wife is in a group, and we get things that are not local. Convenience is nice, they come to her work and deliver, but I am sure oranges are not locally grown. We have "farmers markets" also, and I worked at one as a kid. In St Louis, most of them are not farmers. I know from personal experience.

Washing the produce has always been a pet peeve of mine. Do it if it makes you feel better, but realize if you just rinse it under your faucet you are not doing anything really. The pesticides are water proof. The best thing I have ever found was a trick we used to make our displays look better is to buff it on your shirt. Apples, plums, grapes cucumbers etc all look much better after a quick buff on your shirt or a clean rag. The fruit tastes much better also.

[ness]

Yeah, farmer's markets aren't always local food and they're not always farmers. We've also got a farmer with a roadside stand nearby that grows great corn and melons, but they also sell tomatoes and other stuff shipped in from elsewhere. I'm ok with that though -- that's just the way it is.

This CSA will be delivering stuff I wouldn't buy on my own like eggplant, turnips, kale, etc. So, I'm gonna have to think out of the box a little and that's part of the appeal. Local grown and heirloom varieties -- I just kinda like that. Interaction with the people that are growing it -- I like that too. They're having a get together at the farm in a couple weeks -- I think I'll go.

[Terrierman]

Good plan Ness. Except you should get at least one tat. Everybody needs at least one.

[BilletHead]

Followed your link Ness and I do not have anything real close. There was one place in the link but it has went out of business. Will have to amend what we grow and get the rest up North of me at the Amish and our local farmers market. I will try to diversify and buy something out of the norm to try. We have guys buy there and set up their own stands along the road and bring to the farmers market. Not sure if they get a break when they buy or just mark up what they get?

BilletHead

[ness]

Good plan Ness. Except you should get at least one tat. Everybody needs at least one.

You can have my tat, OK?