Name: Kristin and Ted

 

Town you live in:  Clifton Park

 

Year you joined a CSA or Denison Farm:  2003

 

How you heard about Denison Farm:  Through a friend (Diane) who has been part of this CSA for many years.

 

Pick-up location:  Clifton Park

Favorite share item:  So many...  strawberries, tomatoes, beets, arugula, carrots, lettuce, peaches (!), broccoli, kohlrabi, herbs, cucumbers, peppers.

Favorite recipe using a share item/s:  Tomatoes and mozzarella with basil, beet salad, steamed broccoli with fresh herbs

 

Best thing about owning a share in Denison Farm: You support a local farm, which makes the most sense in the world in order to cut down on transportation costs and energy usage for getting produce from who knows where to the store.

Supporting a local business and knowing who grows the food as well as where it grows and what methods are used I find very beneficial.

It is a great educational component for our children:  we can talk  with them about where the food comes from.

They know the farm and Justine and Brian.  They have seen the fields and the green houses.  

They have a understanding of what it means to grow the food.  Especially, as we have our own (tiny) vegetable garden.

They experienced what it takes to prepare the garden, to plant the seedlings, to water and to take care of it.

Sometimes even this tiny garden appears to be like work and they comment by saying "Mr. and Mrs. Denison must be hard workers to grow so many vegetables".

We are also being introduced to produce I wouldn't necessarily buy at the grocery store as I'm not so familiar with it, but if it's part of the share, I prepare it and use one of Justine's great recipe suggestions that usually come along with the produce.

Every time I walk through the produce section in a grocery store or especially Walmart I am not pleased with how the vegetables look, and I'm so relieved that I don't have to rely on these veggies for making dinner (at least for parts of the year).

 

And/or best thing about being part of a CSA:  You get to know other people,  there is a end-of-the season celebration with a wonderful pot-luck dinner at the Denison's home, you feel you are connected to a "micro-system" that is concerned about sustainable methods and making things better for the future, rather than exploiting for a short-term gain.