And So It Begins – CSA Here We Come

I mentioned in my first post that we want to start a CSA. CSA is an acronym for Community Supported Agriculture. The CSA model is a system that connects the producer and consumers within the food system more closely by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the harvest of a certain farm or group of farms. It is an alternative socioeconomic model of agriculture and food distribution that allows the producer and consumer to share the risks of farming. In other words, it’s a format that allows the consumer to invest in the production of produce and reap the rewards of that investment in food dividends.

We received confirmation yesterday from a good friend that we will be able to grow vegetables and herbs on her land beginning in the spring of 2020. We’ve been gardening on our small property for over 15 years. When we’ve been blessed with a surplus of veggies in the past, we shared with friends and family and donated to our local food shelf. Our friend’s generosity will allow us to expand our efforts into enough produce to start a CSA.

So, we are now officially in planning mode. We are in the process of choosing what vegetables and herbs we want to plant. The following list is what we’ve thought of so far:
• Lettuces
• Spinach
• Chard
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Radishes
• Peas
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Carrots
• Potatoes – white, sweet and fingerling
• Tomatoes
• Ground cherries
• Spring onions
• Cucumbers
• Squash
• Basil
• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Cilantro
• Lemon verbena
• Dill
• Fennel
• Sage

If you have any suggestions, please share them with us. We are in Minnesota, and our growing season is about 4 months. So, crops that require long growing seasons or consistently hot weather don’t do well here.
I will be posting more about our next steps, so please come back to visit.