Community Supported Agriculture - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**tumblezweedz** · 03-10-2009, 02:43 PM

Anyone ever done this? You buy a share of a local farmer's crop at the beginning of the year, and then collect your portion of the crop each week. Upside - fresh, local, seasonal produce each week, supporting small, local agriculture, reducing carbon-footprint by buying local organics. Downside - crop failure, hail, drought, everyone hates this week's bumper crop!

There was a series in the Washington Post about this last summer, so we decided to check it out this summer. I'd love to hear about other experiences people have had.

**mish99** · 03-11-2009, 12:06 PM

Ive never done something like this, or actually known anyone to do it BUT I dont think you can beat freshly grown veggies etc....

There is a risk to everything but I think it could be worth it.

**blinkchick2134** · 03-11-2009, 11:40 PM

The farm I worked at in Kansas for two weeks was a small scale CSA. They want to get bigger but it has yet to happen - it's only a couple running it.

I think it's a great idea if you don't have the space to do your own garden.

Hopefully they become more common. Not only does it provide people with nutritious food but it creates a nice community.

**ScarlotteDorian** · 03-12-2009, 12:57 AM

you're from the PNW tamara, so you probably already know about these. But in seattle they have things called P-patches. it's a really small scale, but it's a plot of land in urban communities that anyone can come into and plant what they want and then harvest it. you see them in almost every neighborhood in seattle.
we also have local farms that you can buy into and you receive part of the crop. they just deliver a plastic bin to your front door every week or every other week of what is growing currently. and farmer's markets are in every neighborhood as well. (gotta love seattle and all their hippie ways).

**tumblezweedz** · 03-12-2009, 05:53 PM

Yes, they have community gardens here too, though they're pretty limited in availability, and you need to have some time to tend the gardens to get a yield from them. Unfortunately, time and I are not on the same page these days. Living in a rental house, for a year, we can't really install a garden plot at home, either. So the CSA seems like a good alternative for this year. Home delivery would be uber convenient, but isn't available here - but the pick up location is at a metro station not far from us, so should work pretty well. A nice Thursday evening post-class excursion.

When we finally stop being nomadic, we have a little farm in the PNW where we will be able to grow our own veggies, and fortunately, we have our own little team of labourers to mow the lawn, pull weeds and harvest the crops. Did you know that's reason #432 to have lots of kids?

Of course, they'll be doing the lion's share of the eating, too...

There are farmer's markets here, too, but they seem to offer a pretty limited selection of produce, and at pretty premium prices, too. I also have to be careful about who carries what home - we've had peaches turn to peach salsa on the mile walk home once or twice!

I've heard horror stories recently about the cost of food in Moscow these days, so we've got to enjoy the variety and freshness now while we have the luxury.