Kohlrabi is not a vegetable that I would have even been able to identify let alone know how to prepare a year ago but that has all changed. This past summer we enjoyed fresh, local vegetables as part of our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share at Frith Farm.

Joining a CSA had been on my bucket list for many years, but I kept missing the signup period which generally happens in the winter. I usually don’t start thinking about summer vegetables until the weather turns warmer but the shares are typically sold out by that time.

I’m happy that we finally planned ahead and signed up for a share this past year. I loved getting our vegetables each week even if I wasn’t always sure how to prepare them. As for that kohlrabi, we tried a few fun ways to eat it over the summer from leaving it raw in salads, to roasting it with other vegetables. It was all good!

Here are seven reasons to join a CSA. I’d recommend doing it now before they sell out.

1. Support Local Food.  I just finished watching the Netflix Documentary Series Rotten and, not that I needed more reasons, but it definitely reinforced my desire to know where my food is grown and to eat locally. Two of the foods profiled in the series, garlic and honey, are readily available in Maine and moving forward only locally grown will be on my table. The best way to have local food available is to support it whenever possible.
2. Choose Organic Food. While not every CSA offers organic food, there are many that do and both the one we joined last year as well as the one we are trying for the upcoming summer are organic. Local and organic is a double win.
3. Explore New Foods. One of the fun things that we did with our share each week, was pick one or two items that we didn’t generally eat and give them a try. I’m a picky eater so this was more challenging for me than my husband, but we did discover some new foods, like the kohlrabi, that we liked.
4. Stay in the Season. It’s easy to eat out of season these days when you can go into most supermarkets and buy almost anything at any time of the year, but it’s so much better to eat what is fresh. With our CSA, we always had in season vegetables in our refrigerator each week.
5. Get to know your Farmer. Being able to meet and get to know the people that are growing your food is a fantastic added benefit of the CSA. Last year, Frith Farm had a community pot luck for their CSA members to kick off the season. It was wonderful to meet the people working the farm and learn about their farming practices.
6. Connect with Nature. I love to hike and post often about our adventures in the woods of Maine, but it was a new experience to stop by the farm each week to pick up our share. It was always a peaceful, relaxed experience.
7. Eat Healthy. I’m not always great about including vegetables with each meal, but having a refrigerator full of fresh vegetables each week encourages better food choices. We ate a lot more vegetables last summer and worked most of our meals around what we got in our CSA share each week.

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture

We were incredibly happy with our CSA from Frith Farm. The weekly selection was always fresh, varied and interesting. As part of our share, we were also able to cut our own herbs, and flowers, during our visits to the farm. I highly recommend them to anyone in the Southern Maine area.

The only drawback for us was that they are not super close to our house and during high traffic times it could take up to an hour and a half to get there and back. Another local organic farm recently moved to our town and is significantly closer to our house so we’re going to give them a try this year. While I will be sad not to go to Frith Farm, it is exciting to see the growth of small, local organic farms.

Have you ever joined a CSA?