A Unique CSA Opportunity

During the summer, I was reading an article on one of my neighborhood blogs about local CSAs. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, CSAs come in all shapes and sizes, but essentially its a crop share, where individuals can buy in to a farm or group of farms' harvest, paying a seasonal fee, and in return, receiving produce from that particular farm for a set amount of time. I have often wanted to try one of these out, but there have been so major roadblocks for me.

1) Cost-So many CSAs can be $600-$800 for a crop season (for instance spring/summer, or fall/winter)
2) Quantity-It's just me, so the idea of getting a crate of produce each week for several months seemed a bit overwhelming
3) Variety-Many CSAs don't give you a choice on what you get. So one week you might get a crate full of radishes and greens, another week all potatoes and carrots.

While reading this article, I did notice that one CSA stood out for its unique process. Star Hollow Farms offers its CSA for $300 and you essentially online shop, debiting from your $300. So you get to pick what you order, and the buy-in can last for a long time...as long as you place an order within a year, the balance continues to carry over. As would be expected, this CSA had a waiting list.

Fast forward a few months and I received an e-mail about joining this group. There was no hesitation on my part, and now I'm part of the Star Hollow family. The pick-up location is conveniently located in Adams Morgan and I was happy with my first haul. This included honey, apple butter, baby arugula, baby kale, Bosc pears and delicata squash. I made a great side dish with some of these items last week and I'll post that recipe next week.

Learn more about Star Hollow Farm.