Farm Share 101

Before I moved to Humboldt County I had no idea what in the world a farm share was. Did it mean you share the farm with a bunch of other people? Well kind of. A farm share is where you pay a certain amount and each week during the defined season you get a vast amount of vegetables. So in a way you are getting to take home a share of what the farm produces. After hearing about this and wanting to have a healthier diet, I checked into it a bit more. My friend recommended a little farm in Arcata called "Deep Seeded Community Farm". (http://www.arcatacsa.com/) I checked into it a bit and realized I could get fresh, organic, produce for $24 a week. Below is a picture of what I got during week 1. Note in the summer you also get you pick fresh flowers, strawberry and rasberry patches and fresh herbs.

After pondering a bit I thought about how much I spend at the grocery store on unorganic vegetables and how often we eat canned or frozen vegetables. I made an executive decision to take part in this farm share. The first week of pick up I went with my mom. She was amazed... I dont think they have many farm shares in Florida but maybe we just never knew about them. We actually met the man in charge of the farm that started it out and is responsible for the production of this beautiful food. His name is Eddie Tanner and he was very friendly and informative. He gave us a quick tour of the farm and let us know what was growing where. You then get to go through an essembly type line and pick out which veggies you want to take home according to the quanities defined.

Each week I would go to the farm and pick up my veggies. They are always very fresh and tasted alot better than the store crap I bought at safeway. If you are thinking of participating in a farm share I highly recommend to try and sign up as soon as possible. It is a little too much food for 2 people, if you shared it with another family or have a child it would probably be perfect. Its great to meet the person growing your food.

I feel that I was very lucky to get to actually see my food growing, see it ready for pick up and then consume it! This is a great opportunity. All my Humboldt County people should definitely take advantage. The food not only is delicious but you are also lowering your carbon footprint. This food only traveled about 10 miles to my kitchen. Most of the time our food is sent about 300,000 miles or more! By eating local your carbon footprint is a whole lot smaller. In this case I think it is very fairly priced and will help you eat healthier.

From Farm to..... Kitchen