After researching all the CSA's available in the Chicago area, we decided on Farmer Tom's CSA (http://www.farmertomscsa.com/). Unlike most CSA's, Tom's requires only a small membership fee and then weekly payments when you pick up your produce. It's offered year round (organic goodies are brought in during the winter months). And the pick-up location is only a 5 minute drive from our home.
Last week was our first week getting produce from Tom's. We got quite a variety of produce:
Broccoli
Bok Choy
Gator Skin Russet Potatoes
Lemons
Yellow Onions
Carrots
Sage
Green Leaf Lettuce
Beauregard Sweet Potatoes
Watercress*
Purple Top Turnips
Collards
Tomatoes
English Peas
Bosc Pears
Pink Lady Apples
Bananas
It was all perfectly ripe and fresh. Lauren wasn't sure what to do with a few of the ingredients (collard greens?!?). This week, however, we ate a lot more vegetables in our diet than normal.
Out of curiosity, Lauren took a pen and pad to the local Jewel-Osco (equivalent to a CUB Foods for your Minnesotans) and wrote down all the non-organic prices of the same produce we got from Farmer Tom. Jewel actually turned out to be a few dollars more expensive than what we got from the CSA!!! So, since the food we're getting is organic we are getting quite a (yummy) deal!
I need this in my life. -Not sure i need the purple bulb thingy:) There's some peace of mind out of knowing that its in support of small farming. You're showing some true Minnesota here! Its like Forrest Gump would say "life is like a bag of CSA, you never know what you're gonna get."
ReplyDeletetrue that! Hey! We need to chill soon!
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