I walk a fine line between being thrifty and not so thrifty in many areas of my life. I love to save money but still be able to have great things.
I buy lots of organic products which cost a small fortune but I feel the need to splurge on some items because I feel like certain things are not needed in my families bodies. I don't feed my family anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup and try to eat as few processed foods as possible.
My kids
LOVE fresh produce and this can be a budget killer! This summer I decided to try something new and joined a CSA program - CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. In essence it is like buying a share of a local farm. Each week for 18 weeks at the farm I joined, I get my share of produce. If it is a good growing season, you reap the rewards, like huge bags of corn but if it is a bad growing season, you may not get as much.
I did a lot of research before joining our program and talked to a bunch of people who already were a part of these kinds of programs. After much research, I went with
Miller Farms in Plateville, just east of Longmont. Unlike most CSA programs who have your weekly produce preselected for you,
Miller Farms allows you to go to one of the many Farmer's Markets they attend each week and load up your box. This was super important for me as I don't eat bell peppers and have heard that you usually get plenty with a regular CSA program.
Miller Farms CSA program runs for 18 weeks from June to October and you can get a half share or full share of veggies. I opted for a full share, which says it feeds 4-6 people but I think it could easily feed at least that many adults each week. This year the cost for this program was $600. This sounds like a lot, but when you break it down, it really is just over $33 per week, for locally grown great produce! If you buy organic produce, then you know how expensive it is and what a great deal this is.
They are not certified organic because that costs at least six figures, but they don't use pesticides or herbicides on their produce.
I cannot tell you how much I have loved this program and am sad that we are already more than halfway through the season. My kids love going to the market each week and helping pick the veggies and learning about where their food is coming from. It has also been a great way to increase our veggie consumption by forcing us to eat more veggies as we always know we have more coming next week. It has also saved me a ton of trips to the grocery store, thus saving me money on items I end up buying when I walk in the door!
They also have a fall festival that runs from Labor day through November 15th where you can go be a farmer for a day. Your entrance fees include tons of fun farm activities and even includes produce harvesting that you get to take home with you including potatoes, carrots, onions, beets, Indian corn, squash, peppers, and the list goes on! You even get your very own pumpkin to take with you.
I know I sound like an infomercial for them, but really cannot express how much I have loved this program and will definitely be signing up for it again next summer! Just so you know, I received nothing for posting this - just wanted to spread the word about this amazing program!
Check out the pictures below of some of my weekly pick ups... (I have to say that these pictures don't really do all of the produce justice - it is a ton of food!)
