Here comes spring, a manifest destiny of nature. If your manifest destiny is to eat local without growing an entire season of food in your yard, check out a farm share. In the Happy Valley are no less than 15 stewards of the land who offer access to their barns once a week all summer. Some of them even have goats.
Comparing Stop and Shop to a CSA is like comparing an in-flight movie to a vacation on Bali. First of all, you pay up front, so there is no scanner every time you choose something. Second, the parking is delightful. Usually it's under a tree or near a pyramid of pumpkins and one is constantly aware of the weather. Inside the barn, nature's offerings are noted on a giant chalkboard and no advertising display can compete with a tanned, laid-back steward of the land or farm intern. Ask him or her about how to cook something or ask them about last week's storm or why the milk isn't raw and a 45-minute conversation will ensue. And that's while your kid is outside feeding the goat leaves from the bunch of radishes left by the fence.
All the CSAs have barns exploding with greens and fruit in June, then beans and eggplant and blueberries in July and then corn and tomatoes, and all the time eggplant, rocket, ginger and beets are paraded out until the end of the season when root vegetables appear before kale puts the kibosh on everything. Unless you are a member of Enterprise Produce in Whately, which is offering a year-round share, so the vacation never stops.
CSAs are as varied as the people in the Valley. Some are established and have long waiting lists while others are relatively new. Of all the CSAs, the most established and the most laid back is Food Bank of Hadley, which grows all its own food and has a shop that sells such exotics as handmade ravioli and olive oil. All food is labeled with the number of miles it has traveled to the store. For example, the laundry detergent from Vermont is labeled "86 miles." The vibe is Crosby Stills Nash and Young circa Four Way Street. Michael, one of the founders, races around among the chickens, handing off buckets of freshly washed greens to interns. Summer evening suppers are held on the grass. Baba ghanoush and babies commingle in the moonlight.
Farther north, on the Connecticut, there is the Sunderland-based Riverland Farm, which was founded in 1997 by Ferdene Chin-Yee and Scott Reed. Two years ago, Rob Lynch and Meghan Arquin bought the business from them. The CSA is a plucky venture offering its own seasonal crops as well as fruits and vegetables from other farms. There are a couple of goats and a fridge stocked with local milk, cheese, pickles and yogurt from Sidehill Farm in Ashfield. At Riverland, which is right on the Connecticut River in Sunderland, shareholders who might be fans of Dinosaur Junior get together every month for potlucks and pumpkin carving. Meg and Rob roll with the weather and manage to have things like pears when you least expect them.
Red Fire Farm of Granby is all Farm Share Things to All People. Farm manager Ryan Voiland, Sarah Ingraham and the crew oversee what is grown and harvested for the CSA as well as Farmer's Markets and stores. Events abound, but most important, extended season planting makes for a huge variety of offerings for the 20-week season. The mix of people at Red Fire is as varied as the inventory of heirloom tomatoes celebrated every August. The latest offering at Red Fire is share delivery by Jessica Harwood of Valley Greenfeast. It's a happy union of fresh food, reused fuel and good will.
To get in on the action, sign up with one of over 15 CSAs that still have memberships to offer. All it takes is a check and a smile. (They don't like rude people at CSAs.) – Mary Nelen
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Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farms in the Pioneer Valley with shares still available:
Bloody Brook Farm is a new CSA in South Deerfield.
CommonWealth CSA is in its 12th season of bringing you the bounty from three farms with pickup in Greenfield.
Crabapple Farm in Chesterfield has several openings.
Enterprise Farm has a year-round CSA and accepts new members on a rolling basis with deliveries to Boston or pick-up at the farm in Whately.
Intervale Farm in Westhampton has 10 openings.
Mountain View Farm in Easthampton has shares available.
Natural Roots, a horse-powered farm in Conway, is accepting new members.
Sangha Farm has shares available for pick-up on the farm in Ashfield or at the Ashfield Farmers' Market.
Shoestring Farm in Colrain is accepting members.
Red Fire Farm has openings at all its western Mass. distribution locations (Granby, Springfield Farmers' Market at the X, Old Depot Gardens Farmstand in Montague) and is working with Valley Green Feast to deliver shares throughout Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties.
Simple Gifts Farm in North Amherst has some openings.
Stone Soup Farm in Belchertown has shares available for pickup at the farm and is considering delivery to Northampton.
The Kitchen Garden is offering home-delivered box shares in Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden counties and northern Connecticut in conjunction with Valley Green Feast.
Three Sisters Farm in Montague has less than 10 shares remaining.
Town Farm in Northampton has regular and large shares available.
List taken from the CISA Website with permission. For the latest updates, please visit: http://www.buylocalfood.com/CSAfarms09.htm
