Today I met Eddie, the farmer who is growing my vegetables from late spring, through the summer, and into the fall. His farm called Deep Seeded Farm is an Arcata CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) a quarter mile from my house on the first leg of my daily jogging route. I was very excited as I road to Eddie’s farm with some reusable bags on my bike and a check in my hip pocket to pick up our first week’s share.
When we first signed up for a CSA share we were nervous because we weren’t sure if we’d get enough vegetables for the both of us. But, we chose a pickup day on Tuesday, which allows us to visit the Farmer’s market on Saturday should we need more veggies. Also, Arcata has an amazing grocery store and an awesome farmer’s market. Initially we had trouble choosing a farm because Arcata even has several successful CSA farms. However, Deep Seeded Farm has been producing amazing vegetables at the farmer’s market when all the other booths are still pretty drab.
As for the cost?
It’s about $25 dollars a week, or about the same as a cell phone bill. We get a lot more use and enjoyment out of food than we do our cell phone, and we have to buy food. Eddie has an informative page about the cost of a CSA share. Kristen and I can spend $25 dollars at a coffee shop across the street, so we are happy spending our money to support a local farm. For the first time in my life. I know where our food comes from. Eddie even blogs about buying his seeds. I had great reverence for finding living things in my food. It’s so refreshing to know that my food isn’t so poisonous that nothing can live on it. Although, I suspect I’m slightly crazy when it comes to my enthusiasm for releasing tiny baby slugs into my backyard.
the food is amazingly tasty!
The best part of my first day as a CSA member is the taste of the food! I have never had a carrot that tasted like this before. You really must come to the farmer’s market on Saturday to try one of these carrots. Not too sweet, almost zesty, no bitter after taste. You haven’t eaten good food until you’ve had vegetables fresh from the garden. I even enjoyed the turnips. The vegetables are so good, I’ll be eating most of them raw straight from the fridge.
Related:
- Farmers Market Report: Arcata, CA
- Community-Supported Agriculture
- The Arcata Marsh – Sunday Walk
- The Arcata Bike Rally & a tale of bicycle traffic laws
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Comments About Arcata CSA – Deep Seeded Farm
// 2 comments so far.
kristen // May 25th 2010
Those carrots are truly awesome.
The best thing for me about doing this is how the food became so much more sacred than food from the store. It was weird and unexpectedly automatic that food grown down the street took on a much stronger gravity than food purchased in the store, or even at the farmers market. If this feeling lasts, I’m not going to waste an ounce of these veggies for any reason — I’ve already started a bowl in the fridge for the stalks and leaves that go uneaten so that we can make veggie broth from scratch.
Tamara // May 26th 2010
Hi Kristen and Greg, I just wanted to say hello. I’m a vegan living in Loleta (moving soon to Bayside) and I help coordinate the Humboldt Vegetarian Society – we’d love to meet you sometime at one of our monthly events. Your blog is great! Take care.
Tamara
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