How has life been? I'm sure you've had lots going on. I know on my end it's amazing to think what has occurred in the last 5 months, much less in the last 5 weeks. But I'll try to get around to my highlights another time. For now, let's talk about how I spend some of my Friday morning- at a farm.
Duke Campus Farm.
DCF has mostly produce (no animals, or at least not yet) and they also have some bee keeping. One-acre is not a huge space- think about 75% of a football field- but it's pretty amazing to see all they do and all the work that is required for an otherwise seemingly small space. This gives me great perspective for larger scale farms.
Some may wonder why support the farm of your biggest basketball rival? But I can think of more whys to-s than why not to-s. I'm fortunate to have found out and worked with DCF through a class project. One of my classes last semester involved learning about and practicing qualitative research methods. That means we use in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and/or observation experiences to explore issues, understand how and why things are done, and piece together information to explain or answer questions. In a simple sense, you could say the focus is on describing using words instead of numbers.
For our semester-long project we worked to explore how DCF could expand their educational impact. As part of the project we had to do observations at the farm. Each time I went, the weather was picture perfect, and I fell in love.
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| Late January/early February at the farm. Not bad huh? |
I was kind of hooked on this idea of working outside and learning about how food grows. Sure I'm a "food and nutrition expert", but embarrassingly enough I don't know much about the agricultural side of things. DCF offers community work days on Thursday and Sunday evenings, so I thought that might be a great opportunity to get my hands dirty. But then the Farm Fellow Emily mentioned they were going to trial a work-trade CSA program. I knew this was my ticket!
What is a CSA?
As people gain more interest in where their food comes from and eating local, you may have heard these letters. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.
And the basics are: "a 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. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a 'membership' or a 'subscription') and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season. " - Local Harvest website
This system is great for both farmer and consumer because it gives the farmer a little more financial stability while the consumer gets access to nutritious and delicious foods. Check out that website to learn more and to find CSAs near you.
With this work-trade CSA, we pay a small membership fee ($100) and agree to work on the farm for 8 hours a a month on Friday mornings during May - August. The even better piece is that you can split this with someone. My friend/colleague Elle and I split the cost, split the work hours, and split the bounty. This has been an incredible way to try something new. We both had trips scheduled for the summer and wouldn't have been able to do it ourselves. And there is actually a lot of food each week, so it's been nice to share and not worry about things going bad. If you want to try a CSA, I might suggest the same for you. Find a friend to split the cost and split the food.
My top 11 reasons (in no particular order) to try out work-trade CSA.
or any CSA for that matter
- Waking up with the world. Summer mornings are wonderful. The sun is just barely up, it's still pretty cool out, and sometimes there is a misty fog that makes everything seem like a dream. You also feel accomplished when you head in to work.
- Getting my hands dirty in the soil that's helping grow nutritious and delicious food for me and others. It's been a while since I've 'played' in dirt, but it's so good for you. The outdoors (especially green spaces) can decrease your stress levels and digging in dirt can help boost your immune system. That's why it's especially important for children!
- Being sore from trying out new muscles when I weed gnarly weeds or haul compost for 2 hours. Gardening and farming is actually a form of physical activity. I find it nice to do less traditional forms of physical activity (think gym rats or my former love of running). Depending on what you're doing, you can strengthen or stretch your muscles and even get that heart rate up.
- Learning about farming methods. Farmers love to share their methods . You can find out why they do what they do and how that impacts the Earth and your diet. Be sure to ask!
- Learning about the seasonality of crops for this region of North Carolina- kale never dies here :). Although the climate is somewhat similar to where we used to live, it's fun to learn about what is in season when. Eating in the season naturally introduces variety to your diet. Find out what is in season near you here.
- Learning about how passionate people with a mission and business plan brought something to life. Margaret Mead once said: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. I love hearing people's stories and being a part of keeping it going.
- Meeting wonderful people I would have otherwise not met. The farm has a manager, a fellow, interns, and grad students. There are also other work-trade CSA'ers. Everyone has such interesting backgrounds and we've all been brought together by an interest and love for food and farming. I enjoy Friday mornings and have even been able to make plans with people outside of the farm. So important to build a network when you're new to an area- right?!
- Having amazing food to eat each week. It's colorful, tasty, nutritious, and supports a local business. Enough said.
- Getting out of my comfort zone. I've been introduced to some new foods and it's been fun to explore ways to enjoy eating them. The greens have been the most new to me - mustard greens, Swiss chard, and broccoli rabe. CSAs can add some adventure to your eating.
- Incredibly affordable produce - $3.12 per week for tons of food! ($6.24 when you combine Elle's portion, still affordable). Note: not all CSAs will be as affordable but you should ask about any work-trade opportunities - you won't regret it- or find someone to share.
- Feeling great because I know I'm doing a lot of good for my body with the work to produce the food (although not much in the grand scheme) and the types of foods I'm eating. I'm kind of scared for this fall. I need to find an alternative!
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| The farm and bounty of May |
What kinds of foods do we get?
- May: greens - lots of greens! So many that I had to gift some away. All types of lettuce (Romaine, Boston, bibb), snap peas, kale, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, and spinach.
- June: Scallions, onions, beets, carrots, yellow squash, spinach, kale, and more lettuce
- July: to be determined. But I will tell you this week I got zucchini, summer squash, potatoes, beets, basil, Swiss chard, and garlic. The basil has the fridge filled with a lovely fragrant smell :)
Sorry I don't have any pictures. My camera phone went rogue for a bit but we're back in action. Here are some of my favorites:
- Roasted beets and carrots (I've also thrown in sweet potatoes) with sauteed kale, beet greens, onion, and garlic over quinoa with a splash of Parmesan cheese. No other seasoning required, I promise!
- Homemade pizza. My family will know what this is about. We like to make our own crust. For the sauce I drizzled a little olive oil, mushed some garlic and sprinkled oregano. Toppings included yellow squash, onion, and basil (all CSA). I also added in some heirloom tomatoes (not time for these yet), chicken meatballs and slices of fresh mozzarella cheese. Mmm mmm mmm. (I've also made a pasta sauce using these same ingredients. Serve that over whole wheat noodles and a salad on the side. Voila!)
- Large and luscious salads with all those greens back in May.
Until next time - happy farm (and Happy 4th)!
