CSA

It's cold here in Ohio, so things grow slowly... but, at long last, today is the first delivery for our CSA (community supported agriculture) program! I won't be picking it up till about 4:30 this afternoon--nevertheless, I am so excited!

We got an email with a list of what we'll be receiving, so I'm going to share it with you in the hope that it will inspire you to look into a CSA in your city, too.




Mr. Scrimp and I will be eating this week:

• 1 bunch spinach on the stem (appx 8 oz)
• 1 bunch radishes
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1 head leaf lettuce
• 4 oz pea shoots
• 1/2 gallon grass-grazed milk
• 1 dozen free range brown eggs
• 8 oz grassfed blue gouda
• 1lb uncooked mild Italian sausage (Berkshire pork)
• Large sausage buns
• 1/4 peck Jonagold apples
•  1 lb broccoli sprouts
• 1 head romaine lettuce
• 12 oz hickory syrup
• 1 lb grassfed ground beef
• Large burger buns
• 1 lb green tomatoes

All of that is going to run us $40, and we get another delivery a week from today. The same amount of food at our grocery store would run us about $50-70. If we can really stick to just eating what we get from our CSA all summer, we're absolutely going to save money on groceries. And I feel like we can do that, if we're strict about forcing ourselves to be creative, eat and enjoy what we've got fresh, and not run to the store for whatever we happen to be in the mood for.

There are a few things we'll still probably end up buying at the grocery store this week--a loaf of bread (unless I make some), some more milk if we run out (we both drink a lot of it), and maybe a cut of white meat at some point.

I'm really looking forward to the meat and dairy stuff. And I'm very curious about the hickory syrup, which I assume is like maple syrup only made from hickory trees. Have any of you ever tried it before? How is it? In my imagination, it makes amazing barbecue sauce.

I'll post a photo as soon as we get the delivery!

Are you part of a CSA program? Leave a comment with a sample list (or an actual list) of the foods you're getting and what region you're in!