It’s been nearly a year since we joined the Sage Mountain Farm CSA and today, I’m sharing 3 lessons we’ve learned after 1 year of csa membership. It’s been an incredibly way to support our local farms and food systems and we’ve learned a lot along the way as members of the farm’s CSA.
But first, the backstory. How did we end up joining a farm CSA?
During the first few weeks of the Stay at Home Orders in California in March 2020, supply chains at our local grocery stores were a mess. I remember how stressful grocery shopping became. Between the hard to find items and the desire to reduce the number of trips, it was overwhelming during this season of uncertainty. After a few grocery trips where produce was either not ripe enough, too ripe, or items were hard to find, I started researching alternatives. I then remembered: Sage Mountain Farm had a CSA. I looked into it, signed up for a trial box, and picked up our first CSA box on April 5, 2020.
About the Sage Mountain Farm CSA
Sage Mountain Farm is a weekly vendor at the Claremont Farmers Market supplying fresh, organic produce, meats and eggs. We look forward to weekly trips to the farmers market and I always enjoy the conversations with our local farmers. I love learning about where the farm is located, understanding produce grown through the seasons, and discovering great tips for cooking the best ingredients. Three factors influenced our decision to join the CSA during the early months of the pandemic and staying home:
- Easy pickup: we have a weekly location where we pick up our box in Claremont in a socially distanced manner. I personally enjoy chatting with Julie briefly and swapping a recipe or two.
- Bulk of produce is secured for the week: While we still use curbside pickup for the remaining grocery items, the bulk of our fruits and vegetables come from our CSA box.
- Price point and ease of scheduling holds: We pay $146 for 4 CSA box deliveries. That translates to nearly $37 per box. Some boxes can last us up to 2 weeks (if I really stretch it); others last just the week. Nevertheless, I love knowing that if I haven’t used up all the produce in our box, I can pause delivery for a week so I can make sure I use it all before getting the next box.
CSA Membership Boxes Year Round
We started small the first CSA box delivery—literally. We ordered the small box when the farm was offering a trial pickup due to the farmer’s market closures during the first weeks of the shutdowns.
I remember we were immediately in awe of all the produce. We then decided to switch to the large box since the small barely lasted that first week with our family of four. The large box definitely lasts anywhere from one to two weeks for a family of four with mixed dietary preferences (a blend of meat eaters and vegetarians here).
We’ve kept going with the large box and I think we’ll continue our membership for a long time. We are definitely fortunate to have a farm CSA that runs year round!
3 Lessons Learned after 1 Year of CSA Membership
While we plan to soon return to our Sunday trips to the farmer’s market, we’re definitely continuing our membership with the CSA. The price point, ease of pickup, and quality produce made it a no brainer for us to renew our membership. As I reflect on our first year as CSA members, I am naming 3 key learnings that have helped us get the most out of every box:
CSA Membership Lesson #1: When in doubt on what an item is, ask the farmer.
Shishito peppers. Fresh guava. Red kuri squash. Jujubes. There are items that I’ll find in our box where they are new to me. When that happens, I DM or email @sagemountainfarm with a photo of the item and then ask them to tell me what it is.
Amy and/or Phil are super responsive and share the name of the item with a few ideas for cooking. If they get enough inquiries from members, we’ll get an email with links to articles to learn more about the fruit or vegetable along with some recipe ideas. Deep appreciation for this helpful way to inspire CSA members to use every bit o’ the box.
CSA Membership Lesson #2: Draft dinner plans for the week after CSA unboxing.
There’s a method to my madness of laying out the produce on my photo background board: it helps me see what’s there and the photo I take after—that I’ll usually post on IG—helps me to refer back to throughout the day as I’m reading through cookbooks, scouring my Pinterest Board, and thinking about meals we’ve loved that I want to repeat. That’s my current process for menu planning. Disclaimer: I only worry about dinner plans for the week. Breakfasts are super simple (e.g., oats, smoothies, eggs and toast, yogurt) and lunches are prime for dinner leftovers. We’re two busy working parents and small business owners; dinner is where it’s at for us and I appreciate the time we share in connecting over a delicious meal at the end of a robust, abundant day.
CSA Membership Lesson #3: Purchase supplemental produce and additional groceries after CSA box pickup.
In our early weeks of the farm CSA membership I was buying groceries before picking up the box. I learned quickly to wait and use grocery hauls as supplemental to the produce. In spring and summer, our box had berries; in fall, apples. Seeing what I had in the box would help me to determine any additional produce items for the week’s cooking. Need spinach but didn’t get that in the box? “Siri, add spinach to the grocery list.” This has helped me to remain conscientious of ensuring nothing goes to waste and every fruit or vegetable has a plan for us to enjoy.
In a year filled with immense stress and challenge, I took such great comfort in our CSA membership. From the beautiful produce to the friendly team, it’s brought much needed nourishment in so many ways. If you’re looking to support local farms, I highly encourage you to research local CSAs in your area. And if you’re local to Claremont and the surrounding cities, I cannot recommend this CSA enough.
If you’re considering joining a CSA, I hope these 3 lessons learned after 1 year of membership is helpful to you. Curious about farm CSAs? Ask me in the comments or DM me on Instagram.
And for all the delicious recipes we make, head to my page here!