Hounds In The Kitchen » CSAs

New Albany Farmers Market

Rachel Tayse — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:40:11 +0000

The newest farmer’s market in central Ohio belongs to one of the newest suburbs, New Albany. It is scheduled to run every Thursday from 4-7 pm now through September 8 in Market Street Square, 200 Market Street 43054.

Lil and I visited on the second week. We found rows of tents arranged around a lovely plaza in front of a Columbus library branch. Ample free parking is available along the streets and in a lot by the library.

For a market only in its second week, New Albany was well attended by producer/grower vendors and buyers. Nearly every shopper I saw was carrying a basket of peaches from Branstool, the first of the season. A family could truly shop for the week here with baked goods (including gluten free), meat, eggs, herbs, fruits, and vegetables available.

I was most excited to find two new-to-me products at the market. First, pictured on the left, is Ohio’s first sheep’s milk cheese from Kokoborrego Cheese Company. I chatted with the producers and learned that their raw cheeses are aged a minimum of 60 days. Tastes revealed that this cheese is rich and artisanal, rivaling fine European cheeses. Kokoborrego is made by the Sippel family and available at the Clintonville Farmer’s market, Columbus restaurants, and stores coming soon.

At right are the Hickory Bark products from Simply Gourmet Syrups. Michael Jaeb, founder and producer, shared his story of turning local and seasonal ingredients into gourmet flavored syrups and jams. His background in design is apparent as everything about the syrup stand is arranged and labeled with an old-timey feel. The showcase product, shagbark hickory syrup, is a completely new flavor to me, nutty and sarsaparilla-like. You can order Simple Gourmet Syrups through their website or find them at other markets throughout the state.

I applaud New Albany for selecting fine vendors and a beautiful location. Family-friendly local businesses surrounding the square include the library, a toy store, gift shops, and restaurants. Though it is a 20 minute drive from Clintonville, I will return with plans to stay and explore more of Market Square next time.

If you go:

Bring cash and reusable bags as always. If you plan to buy cheese or meat, consider carrying a cooler or ice pack too.
Check out the weekly highlights schedule for a list of special events and entertainment.
Consider traffic if coming from other parts of the city. Sometimes the intersection of 161 and 270 can be congested.
Find restrooms in the public library.
Connect with New Albany organizers on Facebook and/or Twitter.

Have you been to New Albany Farmers Market? What market do you want to read about next?

More Hounds in the Kitchen farmers market reviews:

Pearl Alley Market

Easton Farmers Market

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New Albany Farmers Market is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

May Events: Plant Sales, Pecha Kucha, and More

Rachel Tayse — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:30:23 +0000

The growing season is beginning and gardening and eating events are blossoming too! Fill your calendar with local food events and your tummy will thank you later.

a backyard grape leaf unfurls

Farmer’s Markets
The Clintonville and North Market farmer’s markets begin this weekend, April 30. I defer to the very thorough list of markets on Columbus Underground for details about the many (yay!) other markets around the city.

Cook and Learn with Rachel
I will speak about knowing your food at Pecha Kucha Columbus Vol 17. Held on May 12 at Eartha Limited from 7-9 pm, I will join a handful of other presenters to show twenty slides and talk for twenty seconds about each. Truthfully, I’m out of my mind nervous to talk in front of the hundreds of people likely to show up. Come and support me, please? There’s free beer for your $2 donation…

Two of my May cooking classes at Franklin Park are already full. Sign up soon for the preschool Eggs class and look ahead to June’s Honey and Berries if you don’t want to be left out.

I have had requests for more canning and charcuterie classes. Email me if you are an interested party so I can get an idea of what kind of space I should reserve to spread the love of preserved food!

Plant Sales
Chadwick Spring Plant Sale – May 6 and 7 on Ohio State Campus. Trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials, and garden supplies.

Biological Sciences Greenhouse Fundraiser – Preview May 2-4 (coupon required, print from link), general sale May 6. Annual flowers, veggies, and herbs.

Worthington Plant Fest – May 7. Heirlooms, annuals, and perennials including seedlings from our friends at Swainway Urban Farm.

Food and Dining
Tomorrow night, Thursday April 28, is the Capital Area Humane Society Celebrity Chef event. I will be there to chat up chefs and support one of my favorite charities! Tickets are available at the door for $60.

May 1 marks the first First Sunday at Jorgensen Farm. Each month will feature a farm market and farming activity suitable for families.

Saturday May 7 is the Spring 2011 Market to Market Ride including Columbus Crave at the Hills Market.

Slow Food Columbus is hosting a potluck on Mother’s Day, May 8, at Pleasantview Farm. Visit their events page for details.

On May 12, sadly opposite Pecha Kucha, Taste of Dine Originals hosts their annual chef’s tasting event at Grange Audubon Society.

Columbus Food Adventures premieres their Gluten Free Dessert Tour on May 14. On May 24 they will give a tour of historic restaurants, details TBA.

The Columbus Food Forum continues on May 16 at Wild Goose. Stay tuned to their facebook page for free event tickets.

Clean out your pantries for the first Cbus Food Swap on May 21 at Wild Goose!

The North Market’s annual fundraiser, the Apron Gala, is Saturday May 21.

What food related events did I miss? Comment and I’ll add them!

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May Events: Plant Sales, Pecha Kucha, and More is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Green B.E.A.N. Delivery Review

Rachel Tayse — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:52:08 +0000

In March, Green B.E.A.N. Delivery offered my family a chance to review their produce delivery service. I have been curious about their Biodynamic, Education, Agriculture, and Nutrition service and I eagerly said ‘yes’.

After an email exchange registering my address, we were set for delivery. The very next Wednesday, a green box arrived on the front porch. Lil helped me unpack the organic fruits and vegetables. She couldn’t wait for the pictures to be taken so she could dive into the strawberries.

We tried the small size box, costing $35 per delivery. Customers can select a weekly or bi-weekly delivery. Delivery and the bin cost is included in the price.

The box is filled with a variety of organic produce selected based on seasonal availability. A wide selection of additional locally produced groceries, including Snowville Creamery milk, Blue Jacket dairy cheeses, Luna Burger patties, sauces of all kinds and humanely raised meat, can be added to the box.

The Concept

General Manager John Freeland says “Sustainability and distribution are two big challenges we are facing head on. We want to create a food system that can be sustainable for many years into the future, and we want to create solutions for the distribution of that food, which has become a very big challenge for smaller producers over the last 35 years.”

I recently met Richard Stewart, the manager of Carriage House Farm in North Bend Ohio. He is thrilled to partner with Green B.E.A.N. because they can distribute and sell his honey, micro greens, and other products. Their service allows him to focus on the growing operation and still feed customers across the state of Ohio.

The Green B.E.A.N. concept is growing. Originally only available in Cincinnati, now residents in Dayton, Columbus, Louisville, and Ft. Wayne have access to the delivery service. Freeland looks to more expansion in the future. “We are determined to become a strong, family owned and operated Midwestern company. We will continue to build our network of farmers and artisans year after year, further strengthening a food system that allows us to foster the success of small to mid-sized farms, while making those products convenient, affordable and accessible to the members of our communities,” he says.

The Value

Of course, the big question on my mind was: “Is the bin worth it?” Keara and I headed to Whole Foods to check prices. Here’s what we found:

Wed March 16:
1 bunch beets – 2.49
1 cauliflower – 3.99 (*)
2 pounds fingerling potatoes – 4.99
5 pink lady apples – 3.38
4 cara cara oranges – 5.00
4 tangelos – 1.33
1 pound mixed green and yellow beans – 2.99 (*)
1 pound strawberries – 3.99
8 ounces baby spinach – 6.38
10 ounces crimini mushrooms – 3.12
Total: $37.66

*=organic unavailable at Whole Foods, this is the conventional price

Wed March 30:
1 yellow onion – 0.56
4 braeburn apples – 5.00
1 lemon – 0.79
4 valencia oranges – 3.96
1 pound zucchini – 2.99
1 pound asparagus – 4.99
1 pound strawberries – 3.99
1 pint cherry tomatoes – 4.99
8 ounces salad mix – 6.38
2 large portobello – 3.99
Total: $37.64

As each basket costs $35, the Green B.E.A.N. delivery actually saves money, assuming you shop at Whole Foods. Cheaper prices could be found by choosing other grocery stores and shopping sales. We chose Whole Foods for the price comparison because we believed they would be most likely to have the organic fruits and veggies in stock.

Is Green B.E.A.N. right for you?

Our family loves fruits and vegetables but in the winter and spring, we sometimes struggle to find fresh organic produce. We often rely on our pantry stores of preserved produce which, frankly, get a little boring. The Green B.E.A.N. bin provided a welcome infusion of new flavors and we easily used up the contents of the bins before the next one was due to arrive.

The small size bin did not supply all of our produce needs, however. We had to supplement with onions, garlic, and ingredients we wanted for specific recipes.

Though our free trial is over, we remain subscribed to Green B.E.A.N. We like the convenient delivery of a random assortment of produce. Our diets enjoy the fresh organic fruits and vegetables in late spring, which will begin to come from local farms as the growing season begins. Most of all, we love supporting a business that helps solve the biggest challenges of the local food system by giving small farmers a retail outlet.

If you, too, enjoy locally-fueled eating adventures, I heartily recommend Green B.E.A.N.

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Green B.E.A.N. Delivery Review is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Friday Five: New CSA Concepts in Central Ohio

Rachel Tayse — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:09:11 +0000

Fruit and vegetable Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares have been available for years here in Columbus and many of us have partaken of their local produce goodness. Today I want to highlight several new twists on the classic CSA. Follow the links in each post for registration and more details.

1) Mockingbird Meadows Honey and Herb Farm is offering a Healthy Herbs CSA from June through February. From their website: “Designed to mirror the traditional vegetable CSA, our farm share program is meant to provide you with the basics of a healthy lifestyle through the use of our herbal helpers. Along with your share of fresh cut and dried healing herbs, handmade herbal health aides, seasonal tonic teas, fresh herbal foods and our raw honey we include 2 custom-made tinctures, 2 herbal consultations (not to exceed 2 hours), 2 reservations to our Farm Open House and 10% off product purchases. Each share will be a $300 investment for the year. Pick-ups will be once a month at various farmer’s markets to be named soon. Please email Dawn form more information- dcombs@mockingbirdmeadows.com. Deadline for registration is May 31, 2011″

2) Frijolito Farm is selling farm gift cards. The idea is that farmer Wayne Shingler will accept investors now for early farm costs. Investors are given gift certificates loaded with credit equal to the amount of the investment plus 10% and can be exchanged for free range eggs, chicken meat, fruits, vegetables or anything else Frijolito sells. On December 1, any remaining balance can be redeemed for cash. This is micro-financing at its most local!

3) Based on their success in the fall, Blues Creek Meats in the North Market is expanding the meat CSA program. You choose the type of meat (beef, lamb, or beef/lamb/pork/goat/veal combo) and pick up once a month. The deadline for the spring CSA sign-ups just passed, though you might be able to call or go in person and see if any shares remain. Sign up now for summer-fall shares.

4) Green B.E.A.N. delivery just began offering their services in central Ohio. They make available a variety of CSA fruit and vegetable basket sizes plus customized additional options, all delivered to your doorstep. I was most intrigued by this concept when I heard a farmer recommending it, saying Green B.E.A.N. is providing the infrastructure to deliver his organic grains fresh to consumers. Green B.E.A.N. is offering me a trial basket over the next month so that I can write a full review soon.

5) Sunny Meadows Farms is offering a unique co-operative CSA. Full and half shares will include vegetables from their greenhouses and fresh cut flowers, fruit, herbs, fresh baked bread, canned goods, homemade soap, cheese, eggs, meats from a variety of local all-natural farms. This eclectic CSA would be great for someone who wants to explore the great variety of sustainable farms in central Ohio.

Do you have more CSA news to share? Please comment!

If you are ready to move beyond the CSA and grow your own, be sure to download my free Grow Your Garden ebook.

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Friday Five: New CSA Concepts in Central Ohio is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Columbus Winter Farmer's Market New Digs

Rachel Tayse — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 16:43:18 +0000

After profiling Columbus Winter Farmer’s Market last year, I returned last weekend for the opening of their 2010-2011 season in a new location, the Clintonville Women’s Club at 3951 N High Street.

With the change of venue comes a large uncrowded parking lot, a beautiful stage with sound system for musicians, and larger hospitality area where visitors can sit and enjoy their purchases. The market will be open this Saturday, November 13 from 10 am – 1 pm. Future dates, two per month, are published on their website.

I chatted with one of the market’s founders, Cathy Krist of Carousel Watergardens. She emphasized that the Columbus Winter Farmer’s Market was started “by farmers for farmers and funded by farmers to direct market their value added farm products to their consumers in the Columbus area.” She added “Our move to the woman’s club has enabled us to offer lunches and beverages to our customers catered by the club. The chef has some scrumptious menus planned throughout the market season.”

Though I do hope the market gains visitors as the season progresses, I loved shopping when traffic was light at midday and I could chat with the vendors. Beyond superior quality products and the greater economic impact of shopping farmer’s market versus grocery store, the best benefit to me is being part of a community built around food. In less than an hour this week, I talked with a half dozen vendors and learned:

Brezel Power pretzels is the newest addition in the North Market! Congratulations!
You can get free soap at the market by being the first visitor or two to correctly answer Oh Lather!’s trivia question. I did not correctly answer “Who was elected governor of the confederate states on this day in 1861?” (Answer: Jefferson Davis)
Luna Burger is attending the Fabulous Food Show in Cleveland this coming weekend. Good luck spreading the vegan local burger love, ladies!
The owner of Honey Health Farm, absent from last week’s market, is ill with heart issues. My thoughts are with him and his family.
Osage Lane Creamery has a new goat cheese CSA program and a goat’s milk herdshare.

With coffee, produce, meat, cheese, baked goods and more available, the Columbus Winter Farmer’s Market is an ideal place to buy holiday gifts, shop for local foods, or meet a friend for lunch. As Cathy says, “enjoy the atmosphere, the food, the products and plenty of down home farm hospitality.”

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Columbus Winter Farmer's Market New Digs is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Flooding – bad for the gardener, worse for the farmer

Rachel Tayse — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 12:54:07 +0000

Weather has not been nice for vegetable growers this year. First, the temperatures rose so quickly in early spring that many greens bolted and bittered far before their time. Now tens of inches of rain are flooding fields. The lack of sunlight leaves fruits unripened and rotting. Those of us who don’t use pesticides are inundated with weeds.

I have remarked more than once recently that I am glad I’m not a farmer. I feel anxious about my own harvest but I know I can always buy what I need if my vegetables don’t turn out. Farmers do not have such a luxury: when their crops fail, their whole livelihood suffers.

The Wayward Seed farmers faced reality yesterday and suspended vegetable CSA shares for at least one week. In an email to shareholders, Jaime Moore wrote “Quality and service are of the utmost importance to us, and we will work tirelessly until we are able to once again resume delivery of vegetables to our members. We would rather suspend shares in the short term than give you anything that does not meet our standards of cleanliness and quality.” Jaime invited CSA participants to own their share and help weed the fields.

Though I only purchase a fruit share from Wayward Seed, I want to see their fields thrive. I will be volunteering my time this Thursday morning. I plan to be at the farm in London at 10 am. If you can spare some time, please join me!

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Flooding – bad for the gardener, worse for the farmer is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

How to Freeze Berries

Rachel Tayse — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:29:10 +0000

Did you pick strawberries last week and then receive quarts of them in your CSA this week? That’s the case with many of my friends who are now looking for quick ways to process the excess.

The fastest way to preserve berries, in my opinion, is freezing. Frozen berries can be popped into yougurt parfaits, smoothies, baked goods, or jam later in the season. They last for at least a year in the coldest part of your freezer. Lil likes frozen blueberries as a snack as they retain their texture better than other berries.

First, hull or pit the fruits. If they are organic and not visibly dirty, you can leave them unwashed. If you do wash the fruits, dry them thoroughly with tea towels.

Next, lay fruit in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Sometimes I line mine with parchment if the fruits are particularly juicy to prevent them from sticking.

After 4 – 12 hours in the freezer, pop the fruits off the cookie sheet. Quickly transfer them to a labeled freezer bag or vacuum seal bag. Remove as much air as possible to prevent freezer burn.

If you have a large quantity of berries, repeat the process a few times. Store delicate fruits like strawberries in the refrigerator until you an freeze them.

I have successfully used this method to freeze strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pitted cherries, and peach slices. They stay individually frozen which makes portioning for recipes or snacks a cinch.

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How to Freeze Berries is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Joel Salatin: Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal

Rachel Tayse — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:18:18 +0000

“We live in an amazing country where it’s perfectly legal to feed your kids twinkies, hoho cakes, and mountain dew, but raw milk, that’s dangerous.” So began Joel Salatin’s Saturday keynote address to the Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association annual conference on February 13, 2010. I attended the talk. The writing below is my best effort to impartially summarize Salatin’s opinions as he shared them.

Joel Salatin is the farmer behind Polyface Farms, a revolutionary pasture based meat producing business. Polyface Farms was featured in Michael Pollan’s recent Omnivore’s Dilemma and the movie Food Inc.

Mr. Salatin shared a litany of things he wants to do that are illegal (in his home state of Virginia, rules are not necessarily the same in every state):

Hire local kids to do farm work – power tools are legally too dangerous, yet they can be licensed to drive cars
Make lard and can stews – legally must be made in a commercial kitchen which can’t be in an agricultural zone
Cure meats – laws require these must be done in a separate outbuilding, one not in an agricultural zone
Give tours or build a cabin for visitors – charging for these services would be entertainment, and entertainment is not allowed in an agricultural zone (Mr. Salatin joked, “This is farmland and it’s not to be for entertainment. Nothing is funny on a farm.”)

Salatin was serious when he called on the audience to be realistic about the fight for real food production. He offered anecdotal evidence that the average citizen hasn’t heard of Food Inc. and regularly eats fast food without thought to the ingredient quality. He declared, “if our position succeeds, it will completely invert the power, prestige, and position of food lords.”

Mr. Salatin explained which current paradigms must shift to have a real food system.

First, the current paradigm is that the government is more trustworthy than individuals. Salatin, with much experience advocating for sustainable farming at the local and national level, believes the “very notion that a bureaucrat is more honest than a farmer is repugnant.”

Secondly, current decision makers and food laws imply that food safety is objective. Salatin believes it is not. He pointed out that hunting is a proud time honored tradition that exists outside of food safety codes and is deemed ‘safe’ by thousands of citizens who eat venison every year. Food safety regulations mostly come into play when food is exchanged for commerce. He questioned, “You can give away raw milk or cheese. What is it about exchanging money that makes it a hazardous substance?”

Next, the current paradigm is that bugs are bad. Americans, especially, have an obsession with sterility that destroys the good bugs who could eat the bad bugs. It is creating immune system dysfunction on an epidemic scale. In real food circles, kefir, kim chee, kombucha and other ‘good bug’ fermented foods are making a come back.

In general, people are ignorant and trained to feel that freedom of choice is scary. Salatin reminded the audience of the origin of the USDA meat stamp of approval. In 1906 after the Jungle was published, meat purchased dropped by 50%. Farmers lobbied congress and Roosevelt created the stamp of approval to increase credibility among consumers. So is the way with many labels; the average consumers’ fear leads to certifications that are little more than hoop-jumping red tape for small producers.

Finally, the processed food system is so pervasive that people now believe it is normal. In reality, Salatin believes, it is not normal for most societies past to present to eat food you can’t pronounce. It is not normal to eat food you can’t make in your kitchen. As a measure of real food, Salatin proposes don’t “eat any food that wasn’t available before 1900.”

Joel Salatin at his Polyface Farms

Salatin’s speech ended with several empowering alternatives for those looking to produce and consume traditional whole foods.

1) Don’t comply. Salatin suggested opting out of the industrial food system. Find your own kitchen. Buy directly from the farmer and talk to them about where and how their goods were raised. “Take your TV up to a high hill with a deer riffle,” he said, advocating that people avoid the traditional media focus on the quick, easy, and cheap.

2) Create a non-commerce system. Community Supported Agriculture arrangements have passed the regulations test and allow farmers to offer a variety of products. Creating private clubs and herd share programs are other non commerce alternatives. Some farmers have even had success giving their product away and make their money through donation bucket collections.

3) Look for loopholes and renaming opportunities. Read regulations carefully and follow them literally. Salatin gave the example of a farmer who needed to follow a regulation that required a wall with a window in one of his buildings. Size was not mentioned, so he built a dog house sized wall and window in the shelter. A raw milk producer relabeled her milk as ‘pet food’ and is able to sell it without concern about anti-raw regulations. Another sells her artisanal cheese as ‘fish bait’ because there are no regulations regarding fish bait in her area.

Salatin concluded his talk demanding “we need a constitutional amendment guaranteeing every American the freedom of food choice. This heritage, sacred, noble food production system will not be wiped from our culture.”

You can read more about Salatin in his many books including Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories From the Local Food Front

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Joel Salatin: Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Columbus Winter Farmer's Market

Rachel Tayse — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:52:47 +0000

I visited the Columbus Winter Farmer’s Market this past Saturday January 16, 2010 for the first time. It is held at First Unitarian Universalist Church in Clintonville.

The market is small but well attended by vendors and consumers. Tables in the center allowed patrons to enjoy their ready to eat purchases, including coffee from Crimson Cup.

I am teaching a Kids Cook class about honey on February 11 but I was the student at the Honey Health Farms stand. Dale Benedict educated me about bee pollen and generously discounted my purchases to share with the class.

The Carousel Watergardens Farm stand held the only produce in the market. They offer winter meat and egg CSAs and are signing up for summer too. What a treat to enjoy fresh local produce at this time of year!

I tasted my first Brezel pretzel Saturday. It was deliciously buttery and had just the right amount of salt. Next time I will have to order ahead so I can taste their specialty flavors that were sold out by the time I made my way to this busy table.

Lil’s favorite table was the one staffed by Osage Lane Creamery. That kid loves her cheese! We have a round of their goat’s milk feta in the fridge that she can’t wait to open.

More vendors included my friend Barbie Luna of Luna Burger ( another friend, Eliza of Beginnings to Birth is in front of the table), Frijolito farm chicken, Rausch beef, three baking vendors and an apple farmer. The Columbus winter farmer’s market will be open Saturdays 2/6, 2/27, 3/6, 3/20, 4/3, and 4/17 from 10 AM – 1 PM. Come and enjoy local food treasures!

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Columbus Winter Farmer's Market is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

The Gift of CSA Membership

Rachel Tayse — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:10:41 +0000

the little hound wants you to try a CSA!

The first real snow is finally on the ground here in central Ohio. It might be hard to think about summer produce but that’s just what small farmers are doing.

Several farmers offering Community Support Agriculture (CSA) shares already have their 2010 signups available. At least one is offering discounts for those who register and pay before December 31. Others have deadlines in early 2010.

What is so wonderful about giving a CSA membership to yourself or someone special? You are giving:

The freshest farm produce all season long
Freedom from standing in long farmer’s market lines
A diversity of crops that benefits the whole ecosystem
A small farmer work, doing something they love
Contributions directly to the local economy
Healthy additions to meals
Thought and concern for the recipient and the environment

Below is the most complete list I could gather of central Ohio CSA signups currently available. Readers in other cities can search Local Harvest for a CSA local to them.

Wayward Seed – very early bird discount before Dec 31, early bird discount ends Feb 28. We just sent in our registration for the fruit portion of the Wayward Seed CSA.

Sippel Family Farm currently adding people to their waitlist

Greener Grocer only winter signup is available at this writing but 2010 coming soon

Toad Hill Organic Farm 2010 coming soon

New Century offering fruit and beef packages for 2010

Green Edge Gardens only winter signup is available at this writing; 2010 coming soon

Frijolito Farm chicken, eggs and bread available in addition to produce

Elizabeth Telling Farm shares include eggs

Paige’s Produce egg and fruit shares available in addition to vegetable

Please comment with any additions, corrections, or questions about CSAs.

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The Gift of CSA Membership is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!