CSA Firstfruits

I have joined the New Town Farms C.S.A. (Community Supported Agriculture) program for the summer. New Town Farms is owned by farmer Sammy Koenigsberg, Charlotte's longest-standing organic grower. A CSA program is a subscription plan: subscribers pay a set amount to the farmer at the beginning of the season and get a box of fresh produce in return each week. The up-front payments help the farmer with planting costs and gives him a good idea of how much he needs to plant. Sammy keeps his CSA fairly small and there's always a waiting list of folks eager to join. I picked up my first box today: German red head radishes, baby arugala, salad mix, braising greens mix (10 different mustards, kales, and Asian greens), Bordeaux spinach, and kale. Belonging to a CSA is a study in eating with the seasons as people have done for thousands of years -- before refrigeration and international shipping altered our view of the cycles of nature:



Sammy's main growing field. Come mid-summer it will be lush with growth:



Tool house and washing station:



Beautiful lake on the other side of which Sammy and Melinda are developing a Bed and Breakfast:



Sammy was an architectural design major in college and designed a beautiful home for his large (eight children) family. It's a well-used house, hosting church, farming, and "slow food" groups all year long:



The chicken house -- Sammy sells fresh eggs and chickens to his customers, and he and his son are getting into raising heirloom pork as well. (Bummer.)



Sammy's a good man and a good organic farmer. He and Melinda are well-respected by all who know them: