Who doesn't love a delicious vine ripe heirloom tomato with a lil olive oil and fresh Mutzzie (that’s slang for Mozzarella for my readers outside the NY/NJ Area), and salt? How about a plate of leafy arugula greens and herbs with a fresh vinaigrette? Fresh Eggplant Parm? Mmmmmm… When was the last time you visited a local farm for your produce? Your eggs? Honey? Meat? You know, now more than ever, shopping mom and pop local places of business is so important. The Walmarts of the world will survive, but the little guys… much like you, they are hurting BAD! They are the life blood of our country!
Right now, while we are all in quarantine, the little we do get out, we are out there waging war against the oxygen we breathe just to get our hands on essential groceries to survive (and some hoarding, I won't lie, I've done my share of fear shopping since this all started). Produce is often picked over, touched by many (GROSS), and also, from many different countries, with different health codes. Here’s something you can do for yourself, your family, and your community. Read on for the win.
Most farms offer some sort of local crop share program to people wanting to purchase fresh, in season produce, at a nominal price. It’s called a CSA Share. So many don’t know about this, so I’m hoping this message will make its way around the nation, spreading the word to those out of the loop. During this time of quarantine, most farms are offering crop share boxes, you pay for upfront weekly, and some seasonally, and some pay as you pick up. For as little as $20 a week(some a little more), the bounty you get is AMAZING, FRESH, and DELICIOUS! Most offer a nice variety of veggies, various leafy greens and herbs and fruit. Not to mention, meat, eggs, and honey too. Each farm runs differently, and I encourage you to research your local area farms and find a program that’s right for you. We are participating in a local farm weekly pick up starting this Saturday for fruits, veggies, & honey. What we get in our box is a Half a share worth and it’s a HUGE AMOUNT of produce, so I’ll be getting creative and freezing some. BEST PART, its no contact pick up right now, AND, 10,000 people aren’t sneezing all over my food and touching my food before it enters my home (or our stomachs). We drive up, open the hatch, and they plop my delicious box of fresh goodies right into my car.
For my local NY / NJ peeps, here are some local farms we will participate in crop share pick up’s with. Try it out!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Farmers-Market/Kyle-Family-Farm-109519154012066/
https://www.facebook.com/VonThunFarms
https://www.facebook.com/CandJFarmstand (opening in a few short weeks for biz)
Love, Health, & Threds to all,
Lisa Marie <3
