Homegrown Happy Valley

When investigating CSAs this winter, I found many options in State College and the surrounding area. Most work like this: People pay between $500 and $600 in the spring for a share of the farm’s bounty. Each week between May and early November you pick up your share of fresh fruits and vegetables (usually enough to feed a family of four) at a designated location or the farm. If you have a smaller family, some farms offer half shares at roughly half the cost. And some farms also offer a limited amount of work shares, where instead of paying for your produce, you offer up your sweat and services in the field.

Each Monday during the Eat Local Challenge we’ll post “7 Days of Local Eating.” This is a compilation of what the three of us at Homegrown Happy Valley do with the food that’s available at the farmer’s markets and in our CSA boxes each week (Katie and I belong to Village Acres CSA; Michele belongs to Tait Farm.) We’ll try to note the source of the food where possible, but since we sometimes lose track, we’ll denote those food items as simply “local.” We’ll also include a tip or special note for each week (and we’d love to hear from you in the “Leave a Reply” box below for your own tips and recipes!)