Our Everyday Earth - Green Blog » Our Everyday Earth – Green Blog http://www.oureverydayearth.com A Texas Family Green Blog Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:51:13 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Community Supported Agriculture in Texas http://www.oureverydayearth.com/community-supported-agriculture-in-texas/ http://www.oureverydayearth.com/community-supported-agriculture-in-texas/#comments Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:57:28 +0000 Martin http://www.oureverydayearth.com/?p=3950 A work colleague asked me the other day if our site had any articles about delivery of fresh local produce to homes or businesses from local farms, my answer was;

I don’t know how to get fresh produce delivered yet, but I will make it my green mission to find out more about locally delivered fresh fruit and vegetables!

Completely by chance, after a conversation with Carter, I learned that such programs are collectively known as Community Supported Agriculture or CSA’s for short.

Community Supported Agriculture - Fresh Produce Delivered Weekly

Community Supported Agriculture - Fresh Produce Delivered Weekly

Community Supported Agriculture is becoming a more and more popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from farmers.
The idea is that a local farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included such as fresh eggs, goats cheese etc. Local residents purchase a “share” and in return receive a healthy crate of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season which varies depending on your location.

CSA’s have lots of benefits for all involved…

Advantages for farmers:

1/ Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin
2/ Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm’s cash flow
3/ Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow

Advantages for you:

1/ Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
2/ Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
3/ Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
4/ Find that kids typically favor food from “their” farm – even veggies they’ve never been known to eat
5/ Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown

You can search for Community Supported Agriculture programs nearest to you using the LocalHarvest search tool below;

Enter Your Zip Code or City Below to Find a Local CSA:

Once you’ve found a local CSA program you can contact them and see how that particular program works.
I am going to try one of the local Texas CSA’s and get fresh fruit and vegetables delivered weekly, we’re excited about using the fresh local produce. We’re going to create recipes each week which make the best use of the seasonal fruits and vegetables and hopefully write some follow on articles with those recipes included.

Here are a few of my local CSA’s and their details;

1/ SqueezePenny Farms CSA

SqueezePenny Farms CSA

SqueezePenny Farms CSA


http://www.squeezepenny.com/
Squeezepenny CSA Spring 2010 12-week Plan. A year round program to support our area’s Local Farmers, Ranchers and Producers. Reaching out to connect with our current suppliers of fresh, healthy, local (Farm Fresh: No toxic chemicals; Organic: USDA Certified, Certified Exempt and Non-Certified; Certified and Non-Certified Controlled Environment Greenhouses) Texas Agricultural products. Pick-up/distribution sites are currently in Allen, Frisco, McKinney and Plano, TX. Reducing Collin County’s Carbon Footprint with a focus on food safety, security and local availability.
Contact Information:
Penny Braley: (972) 838-3869
Full Share: $120.00 / 12 weeks ( 6 bi-weekly distributions)
Half Share: Half shares will only be accepted as add-ons to full shares. $60.00/12 wks ( 6 bi-weekly distributions)

2/ Humble Beginnings Farm CSA(February-November)

Humble Beginnings CSA

Humble Beginnings CSA


A standard share is designed to provide you with $20 dollars worth of produce and fruit a week throw the 9 month growing season. The cost is $580 per year. That is only $15 dollars per week.
The Payment options are: $522.45 in full $220.50 down and $40 per month through the growing season.
A half share is $387 it does not have the benefit of giving you as much for your money as the full share because it has all the expenses for us as a full share but pays us less. But if you cannot use all of the food provided in a full share it is available.
Payment: $350 in full $175 down and $23.56 a month
Add ons:
Farm fresh eggs $10 deposit plus $2 per half dozen and $3.25 per dozen Pastured chickens $20 deposit and $6 per bird.

]]> http://www.oureverydayearth.com/community-supported-agriculture-in-texas/feed/ 8 Green Thanksgiving http://www.oureverydayearth.com/green-thanksgiving/ http://www.oureverydayearth.com/green-thanksgiving/#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:17:43 +0000 admin http://www.oureverydayearth.com/?p=3126 Are you ready for a green Thanksgiving celebration? If you are struggling to come up with ways to be eco-friendly and still celebrate in style then just follow the three L’s for a truly green Thanksgiving;

Green Thanksgiving - Follow Our Three L's

Green Thanksgiving - Follow Our Three L's


Buy produce with LESS packaging… Reduce waste before the food even hits the table!


Buying bulk foods uses LESS packaging

Buying bulk foods uses LESS packaging



The easiest way to reduce your household waste this Thanksgiving holiday is to simply buy produce with less packaging. The easiest way to avoid excess packaging is to buy fresh instead of frozen. If you are catering for large numbers of people then consider buying in bulk from a bulk retailer, this will mean you can buy one big container of an ingredient instead of several smaller containers.

Checkout this fabulous guide to using bulk foods for your Thanksgiving feast brought to you DiscoverBulk.com;
Using Bulk Foods for Thanksgiving

Save your Turkey and eat the LEFTOVERS! Come up with inventive ways to eat all of that leftover Turkey.


Using all of those LEFTOVERS is super green

Using all of those LEFTOVERS is super green


Our favorite leftover creations are turkey / cranberry sauce and stuffing mix sandwiches… They’re delicious and fairly healthy (especially on multi grain bread).
Check out our favorite list of leftover turkey recipes here on the Better Homes and Gardens website, they have sixteen great ideas for using leftover turkey;

The BHG Guide to Using Leftover Turkey

Buy fruit and vegetables from LOCAL producers – find your nearest farmers market and try to buy all of your required fruit and veggies there to support local farms.


Buy LOCAL produce from farmers markets

Buy LOCAL produce from farmers markets


Buying your fruit and vegetables is good for lots of reasons, you are guaranteed fresh produce and you can rest easy knowing that less transportation / gas was required to get that produce from the soil to your table.
Try searching this great website, LocalHarvest.org to find your nearest farmers market or fresh market stall;

Search for a Farmers Market near you

So there you have it, that was our run down of the three L’s for a green Thanksgiving celebration. Let us know if you have any extra tips for an eco friendly Thanksgiving holiday…

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