How can I afford a CSA share?

CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture subscriptions) carry the misconception of being expensive because the entire season is paid upfront. However, with a little saving up, they don’t have to break the bank, and they often end up providing greater value over the season than the initial cost.

Let’s take a look at how a CSA box can fit in the budget.

A small CSA box (5-6 items every week) for the 2024 season (20 weeks: June through mid-October) is $450.

Start now and save up $16 a week in order to put down the $100 deposit by the end of the year. This reserves your spot in the CSA.

Then plan to set aside $27 a week in order to pay the remaining cost by April 1st. You’re all paid up!

Then what? Starting with strawberries in June, and running clear through sweet potatoes in October, you’ll get a box of the freshest produce every week for 20 weeks without paying any more money all season! In a good year, you’ll even end up with more produce than the box was valued at (last year, our CSA members received $125 MORE product throughout the season than they paid for)!

A little saving up in the beginning can result in a lot of saving in the end! Find out more about the CSA here.

This post was originally published in November 2021, and has been updated.

Tim's Jalapeño Poppers

For part of the time I lived in Indiana, I stayed with a lovely couple who were both excellent and adventurous cooks. One of Tim’s many specialties was his bacon-wrapped, stuffed jalapeños. I’ve made these several times since for birthday meals or get-togethers with friends. These make great appetizers for football games or grilling parties.

Here’s my most recent batch, fresh out of the oven. (You can see I wrapped the bacon a little too tightly around the jalapeños and the cheese oozed out the ends. Oops. Still delicious!) If you’ve got some vegetarians around, just skip the bacon, like the ones on the far right. Or, if you don’t want to wrap the bacon around the jalapeños, you can precook the bacon and chop it into small pieces to mix into the cheese filling.

INGREDIENTS:

• 10-12 jalapeños (or no-heat jalapenos)

• 1 block of cream cheese

• 1 small piece of a hard cheese, grated (I happened to find a container of pre-grated Asiago)

• 1/2 package of bacon

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut jalapeños in half the long way (wearing gloves!) and remove seeds and membranes. Put jalapeño halves and the equivalent number of bacon strips on a baking sheet in the oven to begin baking. Meanwhile, put cream cheese into microwave-safe bowl and microwave for a few seconds at a time until softened enough to stir. Stir in grated cheese, approximately 1/2 - 1 cup of grated cheese). Pull jalapeños out of the oven. Cool to touch, then use a spoon to fill each jalapeño half with cheese filling. Pull bacon out of the oven and cool to touch. Wrap a strip of bacon loosely around each jalapeño, with the end tucked underneath. Place wrapped jalapeños back on baking sheet and bake until bacon is crispy, about 30 minutes.

Other optional additions to the cheese filling: minced onions or garlic, chopped chives or garlic chives

Caprese

There is no better way to capture the flavors of summer than this super easy and super beautiful dish. I took this to a family reunion potluck last weekend and returned with only 3 slices of tomato left!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 or 4 tomatoes, sliced 1/4” thick (use both red and yellow tomatoes for extra color)

• Small package fresh mozzarella, sliced 1/4” thick (I found some at Sunmart/Family Fare)

• 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

• 1/2 tsp honey

DIRECTIONS

Prepare the balsamic glaze: In a small saucepan, bring balsamic vinegar and honey to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes while preparing the rest of the dish. Stir occasionally. Glaze is done when it has reduced about 50% and lightly coats the back of a spoon. If you get impatient, it’s ok—it will thicken some more as it cools.

Arrange alternating slices of tomatoes and cheese on a platter (I like to arrange them around a bowl of mixed cherry tomatoes). Stick basil leaves between some layers of tomatoes and cheese. Drizzle with the balsamic glaze. Serve immediately.

NOTES

You can also sprinkle with salt and pepper, and/or drizzle with olive oil right before serving, but I opted to keep things simple. You can omit the balsamic glaze for an even simpler dish.

Arranging hint: to fill a larger platter, cut the tomato and cheese slices in half to create semicircles and arrange with the flat side down.

Shakshuka

Shakshuka is a traditional breakfast dish from the Mediterranean. This can be baked in a cast iron skillet in the oven, or simply made in a large frying pan (with a lid) on the stove. 

I like to make this as a quick mid-summer supper. The base ingredients are tomatoes, onions, and eggs, and from there you can add other ingredients and spices as you like.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 Tbsp oil

• 1 onion, diced (or use chopped green onions, added at the same time as the eggs)

• 1 bell pepper, seeds removed, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced (or substitute one bunch garlic scapes, chopped)

• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

• 1/2 tsp cumin

• 1/2 tsp ground coriander

• 1/2 tsp paprika

• dash cayenne powder or chili powder or pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 6 cups diced fresh tomatoes or cherry tomatoes

• 1/2 cup tomato sauce (or leftover spaghetti sauce, or marinara sauce, etc) (optional)

• 1/4 cup chopped parsley (or substitute cilantro or mint)

• 6 eggs

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in frying pan. Add bell pepper and onion and cook 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add garlic and spices and cook another minute. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce and cook for about 15 minutes to reduce and thicken. Taste and add more spices as needed. Reduce heat to a simmer. Use a large spoon to make 6 evenly spaced indentations in the mixture. Gently crack an egg into each indentation. Cover the pan and cook about 8 minutes, or until eggs are poached to your liking. Sprinkle the chopped parsley on top and serve with toast, pita, naan, or challah bread.

Optional additions: feta or goat cheese, sliced avocado, cooked sweet potatoes, chopped fresh jalapenos, etc

Sometimes everything goes wrong...

On Wednesday I saw this picture on Facebook and sent it to a fellow vegetable farmer who would understand the frantic pace of July on the farm—needing to dig the potatoes (except it just rained again), needing to plant the fall crops (but it’s a billion degrees and the transplants will fry), needing to get the weeds under control (because some of them are taller than me)…

Little did I know how accurately this picture would portray me less than 24 hours later.

Thursdays are Beatrice Farmers Market days, which means I generally spend the morning and early afternoon rushing around trying to get everything harvested, washed, and packed. I woke up Thursday morning ready to take on the day, only to discover that I had left the irrigation on in the high tunnel. Overnight. For FOURTEEN HOURS. And I was wearing a boot with a hole. I was afraid I would have to harvest with a canoe. Fortunately, drip irrigation is a method of water conservation, and the harvest was manageable with only a change of boots and not a watercraft.

Speaking of water, harvest was going well and it was nearing lunchtime. I was harvesting the salad turnips as it started to rain. That’s a good incentive to hurry up and finish up. I hauled the turnips up to the barn and got them washed and packed into a harvest tote. And…that’s the last I can recall about the turnips. When I came back out after lunch to start loading up for market, I could not find the tote of turnips. ANYWHERE. I looked in the barn. I looked around the barn. I looked in the walk-in cooler. I looked in every tote in the cooler. Somehow an entire tote of turnips had vaporized. The search made me late to leave for market.

Leaving late was not ideal as a sweet old lady had cajoled me into dropping off some rhubarb for her on the way to market. Except that I had never been to her house, and was now running late and searching for a mystery house. As I turned off the highway (which, thanks to just being resurfaced, was a HUGE drop off), my entire tray of nicely boxed slicing tomatoes bounced off the seat and spilled all over the passenger side area of the pickup.

Flustered about arriving late and having all of my neatly boxed tomatoes now unboxed all over the pickup, as soon as I got to the market, I shot out of my pickup to start setting up…and discovered that my keys were now locked in my truck. I have never done this before in my life, so of course the first time to experience this would be at T-20 minutes to market start, with all the tomatoes, honey, granola, CSA eggs, and my money box locked IN the cab of my pickup.

Market manager Michael flew into solution mode, giving me a number to call to find someone to unlock the pickup, while he dialed another business. No answer at the business I called, so I frantically called my neighbor and gave instructions of how to get in the house and where to find my spare key. As my neighbor was en route to my house, Michael managed to reach another local company who could be there in a few minutes to unlock the truck. I called my neighbor back to cancel the rescue mission, and then dealt with the embarrassment of explaining to my very patient CSA members and other customers that their eggs and tomatoes were currently locked in my pickup.

To top it off, that day a film crew was at the market. I didn’t even ask what they were filming for, because I don’t want to know where my complete chaos of a market day has been recorded for posterity. Suffice it to say, if you see a clip of a very sweaty and flustered woman gesticulating wildly until a tow truck in full regalia arrives, that’s me, setting up VERY late for the Beatrice Farmers Market.

I owe a huge thank you to:

• Michael, our market manager, who saved the day by getting someone out to unlock my pickup

• Riley, my neighboring market vendor, who helped set up the other items at my market stall and offered me some change in case I couldn’t access my money box before market started

• John, my neighbor, who was willing to put his plans on hold to go find my spare key and bring it all the way to town for me

• Huls, who saved the day by unlocking the truck in no time flat

• My CSA members and customers, who patiently waited for the items in the pickup cab

• Two CSA members who shared their own hilarious stories of locking their keys in their vehicles (one at Christmas time, and one while it was running!)

• Two customers who shared their own amusing stories of mishaps that very day (one of discovering toothpaste all down her fancy clothes just before a big event, and the other of a 12-person waiting line in her business known for speed)

A few days removed from all the excitement, I can look back and remember to laugh at myself. Farming is crazy, especially during the busy season of midsummer. Sometimes there’s absolutely nothing to be done but laugh at yourself. And be grateful for all the wonderful, helpful people in your life.