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Savoring life in the Berkshires

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Thoughts on Our Winter CSA

Published on March 12, 2011 By Emily. Updated on May 18, 2011

As you may recall, Brian and I participated in our first CSA this winter, after sampling through our friends who already had shares.  Our winter share began in early November and we’ve picked up twice a month since then.  This weekend was the last pick up until the regular season starts in May and I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about it.

I never regretted spending the money for our share. The initial price tag may seem like a lot of money for produce, but once you’ve paid you’re set for the season and it’s like getting free food every pick up.

The CSA met the bulk of our produce needs for the winter. Our CSA also has eggs which means we haven’t bought them at the supermarket much either.  It was really nice to know that almost all our vegetables were local and organic.

We needed a bigger share. 10 items often lasted us just over a week, but pick up was every other week.  We’re opting for the next size up in the summer.

Don’t sign up for a winter share (at least around here) if you don’t like root vegetables or squash. Amazingly, I never did get tired of potatoes, squash or turnips.  Plus, I tried out new things: rutabagas, parsnips, beets, chard and brussel sprouts.

Creativity is important. There’s not a lot of variety from week to week in a winter share.  If you don’t want to get bored, creative uses for the food are a must.

Some of the produce has been sitting in the root cellar for a while already. I was a little surprised when some of our squashes went bad because I thought they’d last a really long time.  Brian then reminded me that they’d been sitting at the farm for months since harvest before we’d picked them up.

Whether or not we’d do it again wasn’t a question Brian and I spent much time pondering.  We signed up for a full year’s share (regular season + next winter) in January as soon as sign ups opened.  I’m really looking forward to the variety summer is going to bring; it’s going to be a long 2 months until the season starts!

Related Posts

Finally Back at the Farm (CSA Menu Plan #53)
Plugging Along (CSA Menu Plan #83)
Summer Produce in Full Swing (CSA Menu Plans #29 &...
Double Share, Part 2 (CSA Menu Plan #139)
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Filed Under: food Tagged With: CSA

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Comments

  1. Heather says

    March 13, 2011 at 9:14 am

    thanks for this informative post, Emily! I haven’t done a CSA yet – but it’s something I’m def interested in!

    • Emily says

      March 13, 2011 at 1:55 pm

      Not that I can speak for all CSAs, but feel free to send questions my way! I may try to pin down our CSA owner this summer for an interview as well.

  2. Allison says

    March 13, 2011 at 8:32 pm

    I’m sad it’s over. We had 20 items all winter and found it was too many, because we just don’t eat much squash/beets. And we did try! Next year we’re doing a medium share in the main season, and a small share in the winter to see how it goes. Right now I just want the garlic scapes to be back.

Trackbacks

  1. » Last CSA Pick Ups of the Summer » Relishments says:
    November 5, 2011 at 7:24 pm

    […] snowstorm.  Oh well, all is not lost; we’re doing a winter share again (just like last year) and the first pick up was this week.  Now we’ll be picking up our produce biweekly.  […]

  2. » When in Doubt: What to Get From a Winter CSA or Farmers’ Market says:
    January 12, 2014 at 7:59 pm

    […] years ago, my husband Brian and I signed up for our first winter CSA.  We’ve renewed our winter (and summer) Community Shared Agriculture membership every year […]

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photo of EmilyWelcome to Relishments! Follow along with my adventures in cooking and eating in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

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Emily
Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring a sitter for a rare night out. We went to dinner at @publicna and took advantage of the opportunity with drinks, appetizers and dessert.

Pictured:
- Citrus Braised Beef Tacos
- "Chicken and Waffles"
- House Fries with Garlic Aioli
- Fried Chickpeas
- Blood Orange Cheesecake
It was no surprise that Public was close to full on a Wednesday night - everything was so good. 

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New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-2023-theme-word-enrich/
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#YearlyTheme #MyOneWord #2023 #enrich2023 #NewYearsResolution
It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
5. @berkshiremuseum 
6.@sculpture.now at @themountlenox 
7. @massmoca 
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9. The #AshuwillticookRailTrail
New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/reflections-on-resuming-in-2022/
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New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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Read the post by visiting the link in my profile or 
https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-favorite-recipes-of-2022/
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#RecipeRoundUp #BestRecipes2022 #FavoriteRecipes
@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/welcome-to-winter-farm-share-csa-menu-plan-148/
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#MightyFoodFarm #EatLocal #EatSeasonal #VermontGrown #CSApickup #CSAshare #KnowYourFarmerKnowYourFood #MenuPlanning #MealPlanning #igers413 #igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies
Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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@freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favo @freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favorite events each year, and it doesn't hurt that it's just minutes away from home. Enjoying the festival with my kids is definitely a different experience than without, but it's still a good time. The weather was especially cooperative today which was great for all the laps I did around the @massmoca campus pushing a stroller. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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