What to Do When Your Garden Isn’t Producing (Or You Don’t Have One)

Are you still learning how to garden and can’t quite grow enough veggies to feed your family yet? Would you like to start eating organic, local food but don’t know where to find it?

Well, I have good news for you.

I know of a place where you can find farmer’s markets, CSA’s, butchers, and more all local to you.

It’s a website called LocalHarvest.org and if you haven’t heard of it, you are missing out on some delicious grub.

Using the site is easy. You can query the results by a specific business or product you are looking for, or by your location.

I typed in my city and BAM! a ton of results came up of producers and local services near me.

This is how I found my beloved CSA, Sugar Tree Farms.

Here’s Ava feeding the alpacas, Gwen and Angie, at Sugar Tree Farms (don’t tell my sister or my best friend- their names are Gwen and Angie too! Bahahaha!).

But seriously, I LOVE my CSA. The vegetables are so fresh and delicious and the owners are the sweetest people I have ever met. But what exactly is a CSA, you ask?

According to Local Harvest:

Over the last 20 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a “membership” or a “subscription”) and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.

Advantages for farmers:

• Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin
• Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm’s cash flow
• Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow

Advantages for consumers:

• Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits
• Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking
• Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season
• Find that kids typically favor food from “their” farm – even veggies they’ve never been known to eat
• Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown

I save a lot of money from getting my veggies through a CSA.

If I were to buy all the organic vegetables I get in my CSA box from the grocery store, I couldn’t afford it. The produce is often triple in price compared to the price I pay for my CSA share. Plus, the CSA veggies are fresher because it is picked the day before I pick it up. Grocery store produce travels a lot of miles before it actually gets to your table and this is a strain on the environment.

Not into veggies? Looking for grass-fed beef instead? How about raw milk? Local Harvest can still help you!

I found a farm near me that produces pastured turkeys around Thanksgiving time. You know where I’ll be getting my turkey this year.

There’s no question about it. If you want fresh food, you either grow it yourself or get it from Local Harvest.

Besides, it’s nice knowing I’m supporting my local economy and small businesses.

Here’s another farm-to-consumer locating service you can check out:

www.FarmMatch.com

This post was featured at the Homestead Barn Hop!