Locally grown market networks: A wonderful variation on CSAs

Copyright Ozarkhomesteader 2009.  Excerpts fall within fair use, as do links.  Reprinting the whole thing doesn’t.

One of the most common complaints I hear about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is that you don’t get to choose what you get every month.  Most CSAs allow you to pre-purchase a monthly pick-up, but growers determine exactly what is in your basket.  We love trying new things, so our complaint isn’t with the mystery of the basket.  It’s with the duplication from our own garden, since we grow so much of our own food.

Thus I was drawn to a variation on CSAs, locally grown networks.  Local Harvest is one such network that connects farms to consumers.  Our area favorite that has regular pick-up points in central locations is Locally Grown.  We use Conway Locally Grown for things we don’t raise ourselves, and we only order when we need to (which isn’t very often all all).  Conway Locally Grown opens web ordering every Sunday night during season (less often in the winter).  You have until Tuesday to place your order.  Then you can pick up at a pre-determined location in Conway on Friday late afternoon and early evening.  The  Conway market is in a local doctor’s office.  It is truly a happy, cheerful place.We were picking up our turkey from Falling Sky Farm last week  (more on Falling Sky Farm in future posts!) at the Conway Locally Grown pick-up site, so I ordered a few things we didn’t have in the garden now:  shitake mushrooms, bok choy, beautiful carrots, some Japanese turnips (great fresh or cooked!), and a real splurge, a scone sampler that someone else made!If you can’t grow enough to feed yourself, please consider supporting a local, sustainable grower through a CSA or a market like Locally Grown.

Do you have a favorite local online market?

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