 |
| This is taken from reklawfarmcsa.blogspot.com |
As promised, here is more information about the Walker's farm (remember yesterday's "Hunt's / Walker's Corn".) As anyone who is a regular reader of mine, you know how I feel about whole foods. If we could afford to do so, I would only feed my family organic whole foods, that we had purchased locally. I think that it is really important to know where your food comes from. There is also something to to be said for eating what your local farmer feeds to his/ her children. It just stands to reason that he / she is only going to feed his / her family the very best, therefore feeding your family the very best!
Yesterday I was discussing my addiction to corn. I also shared that in speaking to Verna Walker, I discovered that her family was transitioning to Hunt's corn. She had mentioned their "Community Supported Agriculture". I was intrigued. The way this system works is that you essentially buy a share in the farmer's stock. You gamble what they gamble, but without the back breaking work. You purchase a share, and in return, at harvest time, your share is returned in produce. I LOVE this concept.
I am by nature a super lazy person. I love the "idea" of my own vegetable garden. I have in years past planted said garden. In the late spring I am super excited about all of the amazing vegetables I will produce. I was super excited to see the little seedlings struggling through the earth. I would water them religiously, until that is I became bored with it, which was within the first month. I am lazy!
I really love the idea of feeding my family fresh, from the earth produce, I just don't care for all of the work required in doing so.
You may be asking yourself, why would I buy a share in a farm, when I can just as easily go to my grocery store and buy my produce for the same price? Good question. How do you think that produce got to the grocery store? How many trucks did those carrots ride in before arriving at your home? When were those carrots picked? For that matter, where were they grown? Not all countries use such strict pesticide policies as ours. When we were in Florida and picked oranges, this question about what I was feeding my family became more pronounced. On our family trip to Florida, we stopped to pick Oranges at an Organic Citrus Grove. The oranges we picked were not orange, but mottled with orange and browns and greens. They were the most delicious, most juiciest oranges I had ever in my life tasted. The oranges that we purchase in the stores have essentially been painted orange to make them more attractive. Who knew that? Apples are coated in red tinted wax to help them to look more attractive, and to give them a longer life. Do you see my point? These fruits are still really good for you, I'm not saying that they are not. I am saying why would you want these unnecessary extras in your food?
The other important reason to purchase directly from your local farmer, is really a very simple reason... taste. Fresh tastes so much better. A potato that has just been dug that day, or better yet within the hour of eating it, tastes night and day different from that same potato two days later. The tastes are more pronounced. The other part of that is the fresher the produce is, the better that it is for you. If you think about vegetables as living things, which they are, then as soon as you pick them they are beginning to die. Every minute off the vine / plant they loose their nutrients. We eat vegetables for their taste, and their nutrients... so fresh is best!
I realize that I am sounding a little preachy, o.k. a lot preachy. I just really feel strongly that we need to support our local farmers. Without farmers we don't have food! So many farmers are no longer able to just farm. They have to farm, and have a second job to support their families. It seems criminal that these hard working people should have do this.
My family plans to purchase a share in Reklaw Farms this winter. Last year the cost of a share was $500.00. The $500.00 entitles you to 16 weeks of produce. That is only $31.25 a week! Shares must be purchased by April. That is perfect, because it is in line with our income tax rebate. Come the summer it will feel like we are receiving free baskets of produce every week ( feel like free because it will have been ages ago that we purchased our share). The Walkers do not use chemicals or pesticides on their garden. Instead they plant heirloom, hardy plants that have stood the test of time. For a mere $31.25 I will be feeding my family good whole foods, that contain no pesticides of chemicals. The bonus is that it will feel like Christmas every week for 13 weeks!
To find out information about Reklaw Farms go to their website and take a peek for yourself,
or visit Verna's own blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment