spring eating: CSA season
the delight of a box full of seasonal produce, delivered weekly.
Early June means the arrival of our first box of weekly vegetables for the summer. Filled with tender salad greens, peppery radishes, and a vibrant bundle of dill, the CSA box leaves us with no choice but to eat with the seasons. Last Thursday, I sped over to one of our neighborhood cafes to pick up our first CSA delivery of the summer. Once I got home, I started the weekly ritual of unloading the many veggies (7 different items this week), rinsing and repackaging them, and loading up my fridge with seasonal produce.
What is a CSA?
Sometimes referred to as a farm share, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Before the start of the growing season, a farm offers shares to the community. Members pay a few hundred dollars up front and receive a weekly box of produce during the growing season. From early June through September (with an option to extend into November), I receive a box of 5-8 vegetables, fruits and herbs to enjoy that week.
Along with the vegetables, many CSAs offer weekly recipes and tips on using the produce (particularly helpful in the case of unique vegetables like kohlrabi or garlic scapes). There may also be add-ons. My CSA offers cheese shares in partnership with a local farm and the potential to add on meat delivery from the CSA farm itself. A carton of farm fresh eggs is another popular add-on I have seen offered by several farms.
Perks of CSA membership
My absolute favorite part of belonging to a CSA is the very strong nudge to eat with the seasons. My weekly boxes over the last several summers have taught me what grows in our area over the course of the summer and autumn months. Always having a fridge full of vegetables, I have to stay on top of planning meals around them: abundant green salads, veggie-packed tacos, or an herb-y sauce to use up the last of a bundle of dill. I am consistently introduced to new produce, which in turn leads me to try new recipes. This week’s box included green garlic, which looks similar to a spring onion or small leek but has a strong garlicky flavor. I haven’t decided how to use it yet, so suggestions are very welcome!
The farm I support also fosters a community of CSA members. There are regular farm meals over the CSA season along with invitations to help out on the farm during the peak of weeding and harvesting season. Each week during pick-up, I run into other CSA members which often leads to chats. Last summer, I happened to meet the father of my CSA farmer when grabbing my box for the week. The sense of camaraderie and weekly ritual helps me feel connected to my community, a benefit that goes beyond seasonal eating.
On a broader scale, becoming a member of a CSA is one meaningful way to support sustainable agriculture right in your community. Our current food system in the US relies on huge farms producing single crops, with much of the food we eat shipped in thousands of miles to our grocery stores. When dozens (or hundreds) of people subscribe to a CSA, they collectively invest thousands of dollars into a local farm and its farmers.
Strategies to use up your farm share
I have spoken with many people who are hesitant to become a CSA member in fear that they will not be able to use up the vegetables on a weekly basis. This is something that I have gotten better and better at avoiding over the last several years of purchasing CSA shares. There are a few different strategies that I have developed to ensure I can eat up everything I receive.
Most important in my opinion, I have created a super simple tracking system for what I am receiving each week and what I have used up. My CSA farm sends out a weekly newsletter including a list of the produce included in that week’s box, along with explanations and tips on how to use that produce. As soon as I receive my e-newsletter, I take a screen shot of the list of vegetables and right away I start thinking of recipes I can make. As I use items up, I edit the screenshot using the “Markup” function and cross out the items as I use them. For me, this is a helpful visual reminder of what I still need to use this week and how much I have already eaten. I have also experimented with a physical tracking system on a small chalkboard that we have in our kitchen, but I have found that using my phone means I refer to it more regularly. (Hello, grocery store trips!) Whatever system actually works for you is a great one!
In order for my tracking system to be useful at all, I have to have recipes on hand that center around seasonal produce. Over the last several years, I have built up an arsenal of cookbooks I use and love along with a few hefty lists of recipes in my phone. I love me a good checklist and I use the Microsoft To Do app (a free app!) to make all sorts of checklists. I have a running grocery list, seasonal lists of movies, bucket lists and produce, and multiple lists of recipes. The first recipe list is my “meals on rotation”, meals that I have made multiple times and love cooking and eating. I keep these sorted seasonally and can refer back to them anytime when I need some meal inspiration. I also have a “meals to try” list. Whenever I come across a recipe I’d like to make, I save the link or snap a photo and add it to this list. I keep it sorted seasonally as well so it is easy to browse potential meals for any given season. If I have an item I’m stuck on how to use, I can search for it in the app and any recipes that have that ingredient in the title will immediately show up.
I am not super strict about meal plans. I often will come up with just a couple of recipes that I want to make over the week and I always prioritize picking a meal that will use whatever produce in my CSA box is most abundant, along with whatever produce has the shortest shelf life. This week, the first meal I made was a big bowl of greek-inspired salad, using up nearly all of the zesty lettuce mix, a whole bunch of radishes and a portion of the fresh dill bundle. Last night, I cooked pra ram long song, a Thai dish packed with steamed spinach, crossing off another item from this week’s box.
One other piece of advice I would be remiss to skip: plan ahead for weeks you’ll be out of town. CSA deliveries happen all throughout the summer, the peak time for seasonal produce and also the peak time for travelling. It’s inevitable each summer that there are weeks when either I will miss the pick-up date or I will be heading on a trip shortly after, making it impossible to use up all the fresh produce. I plan for this and my sister already knows that she will be the recipient of my box on those weeks! Don’t let it sneak up on you or you will find yourself composting a whole beautiful box of produce.
A few more resources on CSAs
Alexandra Stafford has written a lovely farm share newsletter over the last few seasons. She’s not continuing it this summer, but the archives are chock-full of great recipes and strategies to eat through your CSA box.
Seasonal and veggie-focused cookbooks are a wonderful way to make the most of your CSA membership. I will never stop sharing how much I love Huckle & Goose (available secondhand here) which shares 4 weeks of dinners along with a few breakfasts, desserts and drinks for each season. Vegetable Kingdom is a vegan cookbook that absolutely celebrates vegetables. The recipes are fairly elaborate, but the specific sections about various veggies is a great way to get familiar with and cook some lesser known produce items.
You may also enjoy:
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