This Wednesday evening was both happy and sad in my kitchen...it was the end of the season for my CSA with Bull Run Mountain Vegetable Farm. It's been one heck of a run, as you can see by perusing the posts over the summer.
I am incredibly glad I tried it. I am even more glad that I did all the research on local CSAs available to me. The Washington Post Food Section publishes a list of local CSAs every winter, usually in February. When the 2010 list came out, I narrowed it down to those that deliver in Virginia, then began by looking at all the websites. I will confess that one didn't get considered because it didn't have a website, even though the description sounded great. I narrowed it further to those that offer fruit shares, because I wanted to get fruit as well. I researched and read and explored online and then took a plunge - I emailed Bull Run to inquire about shares. I got a pleasant email response from a person, Leigh, within a day and a half - and decided that response was enough to make me commit. A real person was on the end of the line there, and that means something. I may not go to the bricks-and-mortar bank often, but when I do, I still bank with the same inconvenient credit union because of the people. I figured this CSA would work for my first run.
On my CSA's website, the farm has a link to an opinion piece about CSAs not being for everyone. I read all of those details, that you can't always know what you'll get because of the weather and animals eating the greens and onions that refuse to grow, and I thought "I'll try it - I think this is for me." I know folks who have gone the CSA route and had a wonderful season, but hated the bureaucracy associated with that particular CSA. I know folks who have had a poor experience with a CSA. It truly runs the gamut, and you can never know what to expect. Feeling a little unsure about what to expect from Bull Run, I was relieved that the CSA folks acknowledge that not everyone enjoys the CSA experience. Thus I entered the experience thinking it would be okay if it was terrible, too - I would just know it's "not for me."
The first day, I showed up, gave my name, got a bag, and walked down the row of bins picking up my vegetables. Leigh was the guy there checking names, the farmer, the delivery guy - the one-man wonder who served as the face of Bull Run to me. He was pleasant and full of information about the vegetables and ideas on how to use them, but only offered advice when asked. He was honest, telling us a few weeks into the season, that the onions weren't growing, and he was going to pull them and give us baby onions. When I missed my first of two weeks of plums, he gave me extra plums the second week to make up for it because I told him I LOVE plums. He told us not to saute the sorrel, as it would turn into a gray blob. Other than that first week, I don't think I told him my name again, but Leigh became a part of my weekly routine.
Now at the end of the summer, I realize I won't be stopping in Alexandria every Wednesday to pick up vegetables, apples and eggs, and I will miss it. I still have two dozen eggs in the fridge, a bowl full of apples, and - an end of season treat! - honey from Bull Run's bees. I ate one of the sweet potatoes and an apple from this week's haul already, and as it dwindles down, I'll look back at my pictures of the summer's bounty and smile. For now I get to eagerly await next spring, when I return to that parking lot, to the fresh eggs, to the wonderful vegetables, and to summer's fruit...when I return to my Bull Run Mountain Vegetable Farm CSA - I can't imagine a better CSA for me.
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