Adventures in Agriculture: Week 1 Distribution
by Eric Richard
We got our first official distribution this week. The distribution included:
- 1 bundle (approximately 1 lb.) of bok choy
- Our choice of turnips or 1/2 lb. of broccoli (we can’t remember what the amount was of the turnips — as you can probably guess from this, we chose the broccoli)
- 3/4 lb. of spinach
- 1 bundle (approximately 1/4 lb.) of arugula
- 1 bundle (approximately 1/2 lb.) of kale
- 1 head of lettuce (we had a choice of romaine, red leaf, and green leaf)
- 2 quarts of strawberries (pick your own)
- As much as you want of sage and oregano (we took about 1 oz. of each)
- Hand-picked flowers (we didn’t take any)
As you can see, it was a very “leafy green” distribution. So, we are planning on having a number of interesting salads this week.
One other helpful thing that the farm provides is a weekly newsletter and in that they will provide some recipes that you can use for some of the foods you picked up that week. We’ll probably use one of these recipes this week.
One of the other fears that we had going into this was that the actual distribution process itself would be pure chaos. During the orientation, they talked about how the distribution can sometimes take up to 1 hour. This was not very interesting to me and so I was very nervous.
The good news is that since we had just finished working our shift at the farm, we were actually there about 15 minutes before the distribution actually started. So, they told us to go pick our strawberries (which meant that we got our pick of the crop before everyone else streamed in) and then by the time we were done, they had started the distribution.
End-to-end, I am guessing the total time for the distribution was about 20 minutes, and this was dominated by the strawberry picking (about 15 minutes).
I bet that we could have even gone faster if it wasn’t for the fact that we were weighing every product so we could report on it in the blog.
So, our first real pick up was definitely a success. Now we’ll have to see how the first week of eating goes and then move into week 2 pickup.
This will likely be the last CSA-related posting until next week’s distribution.
on June 18th, 2007 at 3:00 am
oh interesting. even over the course of a couple of days, the contents of the distribution changed every so slightly. just as a tiny hint, I’ve found that the lettuce, a few chopped herbs, and the spinach go nicely in salads. the kale and bok choy might be a little tougher to eat raw. but you can steam them very quickly and then put some kind of sauce on top. Here are a few ideas — some sprinkles of balsamic vinegar; tahini, lemon, soy; tahini and umeboshi plum sauce (and water to thin out a bit). and if you cook up a batch of brown rice when you’re hanging around the house anyways, you have a fairly quick dinner on your hands.
– liz
on June 18th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Since this is your first season and you are researching the pros and cons, it would be interesting to price out what you would of spent at the grocery store, if you were to have bought the same items.You could go on Peapod and find current prices online. Of course there are benefits that arent quantifiable.
on June 19th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
another note — I just want to say that I’m not nearly as focused on price. Yeah, high prices do sometimes stop me, but because there are only two mouths to feed in this household, I typically go for quality and taste. So super fresh and organic are trumping any additional expense we might incur. That said, without doing any complex calculations, it feels like the price is very fair, especially considering that the produce is all organic.
BTW, we refigured our share-of-a-share last week and are now getting 1/2 of a large share; we’d originally signed up for 1/3 of a large share. Eric and Vicki are getting a whole of a “medium” share — there are no small shares. We decided with the other family that a large share is just too hard to divide into three — it’s much easier to divide into two. That, and one of their sons moved into his own apartment before the first pickup, and the other son isn’t too keen on eating green things. So they essentially have just two produce eaters in the house, too.
I’m picking up the second distribution this afternoon.
– liz
on June 19th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Liz, I think your point is exactly why it’s important that Eric show all of the data. For some people, the focus is on fresh, organic produce. For some families, price trumps other considerations. By presenting both the size of the distributions and the price of each item at a local grocery store, people can start to understand what they are getting for their money and whether or not it is of value to them. I don’t think anyone can say one metric is better than another, because that determination will change from person to person.
I for one was frustrated that none of the local CSAs seemed to be able to quantify the size of a “share”. They all gave estimates based on the number of adults consuming the food, but it was unclear how many servings of vegetables I was expected eat in a given meal. Forgive my engineering bias, but I tend to prefer hard data to squishy definitions. I don’t need a legally binding agreement to provide a certain amount of food, but I would like some sort of estimate of what previous years have looked like.
One question I still have is whether or not we will be overwhelmed by the amount of food. Would I have wasted less and achieved the same effect by frequenting one of the many local farmer’s markets we are fortunate to have in the area?
on June 20th, 2007 at 7:43 am
Good points, Vicki. I hope I represented my thoughts as “my feelings” alone, and not some kind of imposition of my opinion on others. I suspect that the size of a share is hard to quantify just because it varies so much from week to week (and at least last week, intraweek, also).
Today’s share was about the size of last week’s, but the newsletter ominously mentions that they are “getting the kinks in the system worked out for the much bigger harvests to come.” Gulp. We *just* finished the last of last week’s distribution last night, in time for today’s pickup. This means that we’ll need to find some friends to share our bounty with later in the summer, freeze some of what we pick up, or, unfortunately, compost it.
It may also mean that I don’t end up supplementing salads later in the summer with produce I buy at the store. Today, for example, I added to our very green Lindentree salad some fresh mushrooms, a part of a red pepper, some goat cheese, some candied pecans, and carrots. Maybe we just won’t have room for those additions later in the summer.
on June 20th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Vicki — a little further reflection on this. I think that one reason that the farmers hesitate to quantify is that their crops tend to vary so much from year to year. Apparently, at Lindentree, last year was horrible for tomatoes but great for watermelon. This year, they’re getting a bumper crop of strawberries. Maybe all their muskmelons will fail (I don’t know — I’m making up the melon example.)
Even from our first distribution, we’ve seen some variation, from a Tuesday to a Saturday. Last Tuesday, there was no brocolli at the pickup. Eric reported getting brocolli on Saturday. Yesterday, I saw one or two tiny pieces of evidence of brocolli in a small basket — the stalks were gone by 2:30, an hour into the pickup. OK, so I know that brocolli might be in season, but will I ever get any into my canvas tote bag and from there onto my plate? Or will I end up returning to the grocery store next time I have a cruciferous craving?
Add into this equation that many people *are* squishy and emotional about their food. Yeah, I’ll go along with the idea that if this whole endeavor were way more expensive or way more inconvenient than conventional grocery shopping, or even farmstand shopping, I’d be going the more traditional route. Witness the recent surge of interest in “cruelty-free” veal or “free-range” chickens — people do care about how their food was raised and cherish a little more involvement in the production of what they eat.
But I suspect that many people (perhaps not all) are getting more out of their interactions with Lindentree than number of hours and amount of money spent. Key considerations, but not the only ones.
I think that Eric was alluding to this emotional side when he spoke of having his eyes opened at the orientation and when he later reported on your work experience. I myself was surprised that people are willing to travel from Arlington and even Jamaica Plain to be a part of the farm — certainly further than most people travel to go grocery shopping, at least people in our urban area.
Needless to say, this is all a big adventure, one that will last a brief season, with time in the winter to re-assess. I assume that we’ll all come at it with our own particular priorities and come out of it with our own reactions.
on June 21st, 2007 at 3:51 am
Liz, I understand what you are saying about the variation in crop yield from year to year. Like I said, I’m not asking for some sort of guarantee on the minimum number of tomatoes, but I do think that CSAs could do a better job of providing information on share size. Even a listing of the contents of a few representative shares from previous years would help newcomers.
I also understand that everyone is going to come to their own assessment on whether or not a CSA is worthwhile to them. I also know that for a variety of reasons, I probably have the least romantic view of farming of anyone in the Lindentree family. =)
To some degree, I am trying to figure out how feasible this idea is for people who may not be as fortunate as I am. There are some long-term issues regarding how we will feed the 6 billion people on this planet and I haven’t gotten my mind around how to remedy those problems. Please bear with my engineering sensibilities again, but I can’t help pondering how I would solve these sorts of problems.
on June 21st, 2007 at 7:01 am
Vicki — good points, all. Are you at all familiar with the work of the Heifer Organization? (http://www.heifer.org). I’m sure they’re not perfect, and they probably have many critics, but their model impresses me. I first found out about them when we went to Tanzania, and as part of our first day’s worth of acclimation, were privileged to visit a Heifer family, the first such family in that village. I’ve given money to the organization every year since to support their fine work.
I probably won’t cover all that they do, but they do a lot of things right. They start by giving a gift of an animal (bees, goats, cows, and so on) to a family. I think the family and the family’s village get to decide what would be best, so the participation begins even with this gift. The original family learns about how to care for the animal and then, when reproduction happens, passes the gift along to others in the village.
Heifer also teaches about sustainable farming. The farmer we met gave us a tour of his fields. He was farming on a steep hillside, but had learned to terrace the hill. He was farming organically and using processes that did not strip the earth of its nutrients. And he was teaching others in the village to do the same.
And then there was a little chamber that Heifer had helped him buy. His family had chosen a heifer, and her waste went into the underground chamber. The solids flowed downhill as they are wont to do, fertilizing some of the fields (after processing). The gas was piped into the house for a cooking ring and a light. Imagine what it would be like for women whose duty it is to cook not to have to gather wood for the fire.
And finally, Heifer has a gentle political nudge, empowering women to be equals in the decision-making process.
I may not be describing it very well, but as I say, I came away deeply moved. There are so many components that work, and it all starts with empowering and teaching individuals a different way. It’s so decentralized that it looks to me (and maybe I’m naive) like corrupt forces can’t get involved as they do with food giveaway programs.
So that’s one model that might be worth looking into.
Thanks again for your response.
– liz
on June 21st, 2007 at 7:21 am
I am mildly familiar with Heifer. A few years ago my wife bought a llama that we named Larry (Larry the Llama) for a family down in South America (don’t remember where).
I have two (hopefully) interesting stories about Heifer.
A few years ago, we went to a friends wedding and the bride and groom had decided to make a donation to Heifer on behalf of each table at the reception. So, you got to your table and there was a card letting the table know what they had purchased. It was really pretty cool.
The second experience was last year for the holidays. It is pretty common for CEOs to buy their VPs a bottle of wine for the Holidays. But one day I got into work and found a card on my desk saying that a donation had been made to Heifer on my behalf. I caught up with our CEO afterward and he basically said, “As an executive at a software company, you can buy pretty much anything you want — so I thought it was better to do something that would help the world out rather than just buy you something.” I thought that was a pretty cool attitude.