Green Options

Whether you’ve got a big back yard, some room on a windowsill or patio, or no inclination towards gardening at all, it’s easy to get in on the Springtime bounty!

[Creative Commons photo by Carl Tashian]

Spring is getting close! The bulbs from last year are peeking out of the ground, and I’ve even spied a few things starting to bloom out back! This week’s Vegetable Husband newsletter mentioned that farms nearby are starting to plant for Spring, and it reminded me that it’s time to get my own Spring garden going, too! Here are some great resources to get you started.

Local Harvest is an amazing organization. Have you seen their heirloom tomaoto seed offerings? This would make the most vibrant and beautiful fatoush ever. Here are five of Local Harvest’s favorite slicers and five salad tomatoes, in full spectrum color for nutritional balance ~

• The slicers: Cherokee Purple, Hillbilly (large yellow/pink), Black Krim, Zapotec (yellow, pleated), and Oxheart.
• The salad tomatoes: Chocolate Cherry, Garden Peach, Green Zebra, Red & Yellow Pear, Red Grape.

I always struggle over what to buy my father and stepmother for the holidays. They have everything they need, and when I try to buy something for their home decor, it often ends up in a garage sale.  This year I had a brilliant idea: a share in a family farm.

This summer when my dad came to visit, I told him about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and he sounded interested.  You see, my dad is a big Willie Nelson fan, and he grew up visiting family farms.  As Beth Bader explains:

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is basically a mutual agreement between consumers and a farmer that helps guarantee the farmer a reliable income, and the consumers each get a share of the produce throughout the season.

A CSA is a real partnership; the consumers take on some of the risk of farming as a bad season can mean less produce. However, the support through the tough seasons allows the farm to continue, and it certainly pays off during the good seasons. Most seasons, a CSA subscription provides enough produce to feed a family of four. Many will offer shared, or half subscriptions for single people or small families.

[image via Jennifer Dickert]

Working local, seasonal foods into your diet is an easy and delicious way to reduce your carbon footprint. The average food item travels 1,500 miles to get to your plate. Local food uses far less gas to get from farm to table. On top of that, local food is usually fresher than something that’s traveled a long time and distance. If you hit your average grocery store chain it seems nearly impossible to stock up on local eats. With a few handy resources, though, it’s as easy as (organic, locally-grown apple) pie!