CSA Decision

The people of Madison LOVE community supported agriculture (CSA) farms--all the booths at Monona Terrace yesterday were mobbed. True to my talent for getting involved in a trend at its peak, I was there as well, along with my husband and 79 year old dad, who farmed for a good many years.

We stood like rocks in a whitewater stream, trying to decide where to strike out for first. Luckily a volunteer came by with delicious samples of an asian-style coleslaw from the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition cookbook. One taste and we shoved off to find the best farm to join so we could start picking up produce each week to make things just like that.

What a different type of farming the people there were doing compared to what my dad had done! The farmers we talked to were mostly people in their thirties or even twenties, thoroughly at ease discussing the nutritional value of the food they were growing, sustainable farming methods, and lifestyle choices. Besides farmers, they were sales people, promoters, educators, merchandisers, employers, distributors, and graphic designers.

Having struggled mightily to grow an array of vegetables in our garden, which is composed of dense clay soil, creeping charlie, and a favorite spot of deer, rabbits, groundhogs and Japanese beetles, I wanted to know about things like tractors and other mechanical help. I thought Dad would, too, especially since he spent a good bit of his retirement restoring John Deere tractors, but no. I followed him to hear the answers to his favorite question "Do you have working shares?"

We didn't make a decision on which CSA to join...I'm still sorting out pick-up locations and times, prices, and just what's in the weekly box. How lucky to have so many great places to choose from.