Community Supported Agriculture

I got my first order of vegetables from Rhonda this week. My mom bought me a half membership in her CSA when my parents were here a few months ago. Mom talked about how much work doing one raised bed in the backyard was and how impressed she was at the number of raised beds Rhonda had created through sheer force of will on her acre of land. So, she was supporting both Rhonda and me with her check. We figure that the boys get leftovers when they go visit her house, so the vegetables will be like my leftovers. Also, paying Rhonda for her harvest means that the work that I did for her in the planting season is actually a gift, rather than her having to feel like she should trade me food for work as barter.

So, this was in the first box. You should divide each of the amounts in half to fully understand just how many vegetables I have.


I have eaten the gailann exactly as she recommended. I've made salad with peas and carrots and garlic tops. I plan to make kohlrabi and bok choi slaw and the cilantro goes into my quesadillas. I think I'm going to make a cheese and carmelized onion tart with the braising greens.

More and more, studies are showing that vegetables from the grocery store have very few nutrients because it takes so long to get them to the grocery store and they're bred for shelf longevity and image rather than taste and nutrition. Also, so many petrochemicals are used in commercial farming that it's actually killing the world to feed us now. So, the idea of getting my vegetables directly from Rhonda, who uses no chemicals, on the day that she harvests them is pretty cool.