Who's your farmer?

This is not a post about the game Farmville that so many people play on the Facebook.

This is a post about where you choose to get your produce from.  Some people choose to get their produce from a supermarket.  This is great, and I am so happy that people are even bothering to eat fruits and veggies.  But when you buy something at the supermarket, do you ever wonder where it came from?  Who lovingly tended that plant, watered it, harvested the produce? 

I do all of the time.

I was raised as a crazy Boulder hippie, guys.  I'm sure you may have heard of them before.  Boulder's that weird town where everyone smokes pot and "gets back to nature".  I'm not going to lie with that assessment, even though I can promise you that I have never, ever smoked wacky grass.  But let's be real, guys.  I wear dresses like this one on my days off:

A pointed out I'd already posted this picture.  I know, but I thought you'd want to see it again.

Hippie-lala.  And because of this, I grew up going to the farmer's market with my mom on Saturdays and Wednesdays.  I grew up getting to interact with the people who tended the field my food came from, I got the chance to learn something about where my food came from.  I could still see dirt and little bugs clinging to gorgeous, delectable produce.  And it's something that has stuck with me into my adult years.  I look forward to Farmer's Market season, and having the chance to schmooze my produce farmers.  **Kristen's FM tip:  wear a pretty dress, smile, and leave man friend/hubs at home.  The 17 year old farm hands will be more than happy to give you extra produce for free.**

This year I decided to take things a little further.  While I love shopping at the FM, it can sometimes be kind of pricey.  If you're ready to take the leap into local, organic goodness, community supported agriculture (CSA) is where it's at.  You become an investor in the farm of your choice.  During the fallow season, you pay your "share fee" to the farm.  This allows them to buy their seeds, equipments, supplies, etc that they need in order to produce crops.  Then, once growing season starts, bam!  You receive weekly goodie boxes filled with the most fresh produce possible.  The produce has usually been picked that day, and they typically reserve the best for their share members.  Because you're receiving fresh produce, every week you are going to get different stuff.  Wednesday we got out first box of the season.  A and I made a $600 investment for a 26 week couple-sized share of produce.  I can't say I was disappointed when I opened out box for the week and found all this:

Well, the bills and papers weren't included, and the watermelon was simply a prop to hold stuff up.  But 2 HUGS bunches of spinach, parsley, cilantro, mexican red beans, rhubarb (I can't get away from the stuff!), a bag of baby spinach, lettuce, garlic shoots, spring onions, farm fresh eggs... 

I died and went to produce heaven.

And really, as the season progresses, these boxes will have more and more stuff in them.  What isn't to love?

I can't wait to share more with you about CSA produce as the season goes on.  But ask yourself this the next time you're at the store:  Could I get this more fresh and delicious from a farm nearby?