The front plot after the rock beds were removed

The front plot after the initial tilling

The completed front plot

Tilling the back plot

Adding compost to the back plot

After the compost was spread and mixed in

We’ll be back out there tonight digging rows in the back plot. Next weekend will be seed planting. Let us know if you’d like to help.

Beginning November 1st (earlier if possible), we’ll either deliver or have ready for pick-up a weekly supply of fresh, local produce. We’re still in the pilot program, of course, so we’ve limited memberships to 25 for the first season. For the following season beginning in February, we’re opening up 100 memberships. All the memberships are on a first come, first served basis.

Since we’re still expanding our capacity, we’re rewarding early members with an early bird price of $18 per week for pick up and $20 delivered. That includes at least 15 generous portions of our seasonal produce. That would feed an average person 2-3 servings a day. If you’re feeding a family, you can get however many memberships you need while supplies last.

We generally plan to have a wide variety of seasonal items so you won’t be bored. We’ll offer mainstream staples as well as new tasty varieties and a few surprises. We also plan to include recipes along with our produce. If you have a favorite recipe for something we distribute, we’d be happy to hear about it.

If you haven’t gotten your membership yet, contact us soon. Every CSA we’ve researched is sold out and has a long waiting list.

[This article appeared in the July edition of the Crestview Neighborhood Association Newsletter.]

Eating local, healthy food has been difficult until recently. We continue to lose farmland to sprawling development and global crops such as corn, soy and grain. These crops dominate our diets, but do not nourish.

Currently, high-end grocery stores and markets are the primary source for fresh, nutritious food, but prices and locations keep people from eating good food on a regular basis. Because of this lack of access, we see a sharp rise in medical costs and an increase in deadly diseases that rarely existed before cheap, processed foods were so common.

New ideas now bring healthy, nourishing food back to us. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) reconnects us with the farms producing our food. The variety, quality and level of nutrition these small farms offer is astounding, and the food is, once again, local and fresh without preservatives and hormones.

CSAs offer a variety of membership levels, and members get baskets of fresh, local produce delivered weekly. Imagine healthy veggies and eggs dropped right at your door!

I’m Paige Hill and my passion is to educate people on benefits and techniques for planting veggie gardens. I am starting the first urban CSA in the Crestview neighborhood of Austin. To learn more, please contact me at paige@urbanpatchwork.org.