FOOD usually are enough for couples. Some CSAs supply singletons with “mini” shares. “The quality and variety of the produce has just improved amazingly,” says Siporen. Shares in most CSAs last through the local growing season, between four and six months, based on how early a farm plants and how late it harvests. Several wintertime CSAs sustain customers through the threemonth hiatus of local farmers markets. Early spring is the prime time to commit to, and usually pay for, a CSA. Home delivery typically costs a bit extra, and members most often pick up their produce from several sites around the region. Some CSAs ask customers to claim their shares at the farm, where they can tour the fields and facilities. Farmers’ favorite ways to prepare their produce is a perk of many CSAs. Recipes Josh Cohen of Barking Moon Farm in Applegate, which is part of the Siskiyou Sustainable Cooperative. can be found on CSA websites and socialmedia profiles, printed in their newsletters or even demonstrated on YouTube channels. of produce make for suitable substitutions is helpful, but not But weeks of receiving a surplus of squash, or not a single as much as keeping an open mind. “People just aren’t that succulent strawberry, can challenge cooks to get creative. familiar with a lot of vegetables,” says Carroll. That’s the opinion of Siporen, a CSA customer for more than a Accustomed to picking and choosing, mainstream decade. consumers may shy away from the unknowns inherent to Short on spinach, lettuce and other tender greens, CSA CSAs. Shareholders shoulder some of the farmer’s risk of crop members can fill their salad bowls with heartier chard or kale. failure in exchange for reaping the rewards of a bountiful A share light on potatoes may suggest a gratin of other root harvest. Although the hot 2015 growing season left Broken vegetables, such as parsnips or turnips. Knowing which pieces Oak lacking lettuces, CSA members received approximately
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