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Health & Fitness

Support Local Farms Without Leaving Town (1 of 2)

Are you interested in adding more local, sustainable foods to your diet? Allie Burger checks in with a two-part review of the many options right here in Collingswood.

Editor's note: Allie Burger is Collingswood Patch's newest blogger. She'll be writing about organic foods and farming, outdoor and nature experiences for parents with young children and other parenting topics.

 

I used to schlep my children all over the place in my determination to feed our family organically grown, local produce. Once a week, from June to October, we’d grab our bushel basket and drive a half-hour south to select our produce for the week.

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We’d visit a shed with overflowing baskets of heirloom tomatoes, peppers, greens, root vegetables, and melons. I still smile remembering my girls toddling precariously across the parking lot, hugging melons larger than their heads.

For several years, we belonged to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm near Pitman, NJ, and the produce was fantastic in both amount and quality. I thought my children might enjoy the community aspect of a CSA, like pick-your-own harvesting and potlucks. So we dove deeper into our weekly commitment, driving to Bordentown every week to claim our share of produce.

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After a cranky, sweaty hour or two of picking green beans, berries, tomatoes, herbs, or sunflowers, we’d return to our car for the drive home. It got so that the girls would cry about CSA day, and we never did make it to a potluck. After burning many tanks of gas and not-so-enjoyable hours, I thought there had to be an option that was more…local.

The offers an excellent weekly opportunity for buying local produce and artisan food, but to date, hosts only one organic farmer—DanLynn Farms—that’s often sold out of produce before I get there.

Our weekends are often reserved for local trips, which means we aren’t always around for the Saturday market. I do grow a garden, but it’s small and certainly does not feed a family of five. I knew we’d feel a void if we didn’t join a CSA.

Last year, a friend and I contacted several CSA farms to ask if they would establish a Collingswood drop-off site for boxed shares. Honey Brook Organic Farm was up to the task, and agreed to host it. Honey Brook also offered the option of open-hours crop picking at its Chesterfield site. We went in the spring, and picked an astounding 8 quarts of organic strawberries.

In addition to the box share, Honey Brook offered pumpkins, melons, extra canning tomatoes, and flowers at various points during the season. At $26 per week—plus incidental purchases from the cookie aisle at Healthworks—the cost was reasonable.

What’s exciting for nerdy locavores like me is that Honey Brook Organic Farm is just one of several options for local or sustainably produced foods available in Collingswood.

Tomorrow, I’ll explain the CSA boxed-share and buying club programs available to Collingswood residents. In the meantime, if you have any tips or suggestions, feel free to provide them in the comments below.

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