The fruits of their labor

I'm not sure how popular these are in other areas - I know I had never heard of one until I moved to Providence - but I'm happy to say I joined my first Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)!

CSAs are a great invention for people who can't (and frankly, probably don't really want to) farm but love the idea of having fresh produce at your disposal. It's also a great way for farmers to have a guaranteed sell for their produce. Some of my friends had joined ones this summer and each week they were provided with a fresh variety of vegetables depending on the season and the farm they were ordering from.

The one I went with, Baby Green Farms, is one of the few who goes throughout the winter because they specialize in lettuce/greens and provide you with cheese, coffee and bread from local stores. The idea of having all of this delivered to my door sounded too glorious to pass up!

Most CSAs don't deliver but ask you to pick up your items at a local farmers market. You pay an upfront fee (in my case I pay in full for 10-weeks of delivery) and every week your guaranteed an assortment of items. Different farms do things in different ways so if your interested, I'd encourage you to google CSAs in your area and see what produce they provide and where they are located. There's a handy list of CSAs and farmers markets HERE at Local Harvest.

The majority of CSAs are super affordable! There are even some that provide fresh beef, chicken and eggs. And you get the knowledge that 1) your food is more than likely organic and creating a very little carbon footprint and 2) that your supporting a local farm!

win win!