A Share of the Farm

In and around our Philadelphia homebase, early June marks the start of a very exciting season: Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, season. Every week from June through early November, many of us here at the home office receive a produce share full of the week's harvest from our local farms. From crisp heads of lettuce, pungent garlic scapes, and plump strawberries in late spring, to high-summer's ripe tomatoes, purple eggplant, and zuccini, and finally fall's crook-neck pumpkins, kale, and gnarled root vegetables; each week offers something new to look forward to.

This year, following the lead of friends here at the home office, we visited Greensgrow Farms, a local urban farm that just celebrated its 18th year operating on a once-abandoned lot in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood. From their modest lot and through partnerships with other area farms, the folks at Greensgrow offer an abundance of seasonal produce, dairy, and meat year round, all in a neighborhood that's otherwise limited in its access to fresh produce. Not to mention that they are known for having one of the best CSAs around. We took a look, and maybe a taste or two, from one of their early shares and couldn't wait to share what we saw:

Zucchini- Dante Spina and Sons, Salem, NJ
Strawberries- Cassaday, Vineland, NJ
Radish- Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ
Eggs- Sandy Ridge Farm, Elizabethtown, PA
Asparagus- D. Spina and Sons, Salem, NJ
Greens- John and Rachel Glick, Quarryville, PA
Spring Onions- Sunny Harvest LLC, Quarryville, PA
Chives- Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ

Tell us, are you a member of a CSA in your community? We'd love to hear about some of your early favorites from this season's shares!