How to Save Some Green While Going Organic

Last Tuesday, I walked over to a small amphitheater a few blocks from my house, and a few minutes later left with nearly 1 pound of kale, 2 pounds of turnips, a pound of mixed greens, some bok choy, dill, parsley, another head of lettuce, and an intimidating large bunch of radish for about $12. All organically grown.

No, I didn’t pull a Peter Rabbit and hit up a neighbor’s backyard (can you imagine a green space like that in Manhattan?). But actually, they did come from a shared garden.

Two years ago I joined a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group. These are organizations where people get together and basically buy a share from a nearby farmer, who then grows crops for us (usually you don’t get to pick which ones) and then every week get to divide up the bounty.

My outlying cost from the last week in May (which brought more lettuce than my family of three could actually eat) to the first week in November (pumpkins!) will be $295. It seemed like a lot as I wrote the check earlier this year, but when I carried home my haul with Harper — I think I did pretty well.

CSA’s are growing, ahem, across the country as the interest in eating healthy, local food has increased. What I love about them is that I’m supporting an industry directly — one farmer — and in return I know where my daughter’s mouthful of kale came from. (Oh yes, we made her try it.)

As a financially savvy move? I figure I’m about even. I know the same amount of organic vegetables and herbs at somewhere like Whole Foods would have cost me much more. And I bet the same non-organic amount at my local store across the street would also have cost a bit more.

Still, more exciting to me, my CSA has helped me introduce my family to vegetables I probably normally wouldn’t buy. Take turnips. Not high on the list — but I sliced some of these peppery crunchy bulbs into a salad, and added the rest to a pea soup I was making. Uh, yum. Or the garlic scapes last year that I sautéed with greens? Amazing.

Also, I’m planning meals better — which means fewer quick stops at the grocery, and walking out with some extra snacks that I didn’t have in my budget.

There are some links below for information about how to learn more about CSAs. And if you can’t find one, think of starting your own. That’s what we did — we contacted one of these organizations, which connected us to an interested farmer and six months later we had some delicious radishes.

Good luck!

Local Harvest

CSA information from the USDA

Basic info on CSA’s