I couldn’t be more excited to share this post with you guys today! I recently got the opportunity to partner with New South Coop for their 2017 season of their CSA program.
If you have no idea what a CSA is, let me tell you all about it!
(Photo from New South’s Instagram: >Here<)
CSA, or community support agriculture, is a commitment to eating healthier food all while supporting local farmers. CSA boxes are seasonal produce boxes provided through small family farmers that are working hard to give back to their communities each and every day. While their farms may be “small”, they sure make a big impact! New South partners with these farmers to package and provide weekly or bi-weekly boxes for 8 or 16 weeks depending on which option you choose. They fill these boxes with farm fresh sustainable fruits and veggies ranging from herbs, to berries to carrots, potatoes and everything in between. While each season’s boxes vary, you’re guaranteed to get produce that is picked at the peak of it’s freshness. When these fruits and veggies are picked in season, they’re ultimately the most flavorful and best for you as they’re packed with their highest nutritional content.
New South has recently launched new meat, cheese and flower share options this year too. So, alongside your fruits and veggies you can add in these shares to try out their meat or cheese options each week or get some gorgeous flowers to brighten up your dinner table!
(Photos from New South’s Instagram: >Here< )
One of the most exciting reasons I couldn’t wait to get started with New South is that all of their farmers are Certified Organic or Certified Naturally Grown. That means that they don’t use any harsh chemicals on their crops and they use soil amending treatments, like compost. There are over 25+ farmers that work together with New South covering the state of Arkansas. These farmers are dedicated to not only helping their local communities by giving back but also providing quality produce for each and every share customer.
(Photo from New South’s Instagram: >Here<)
This past Monday I was invited on a farm tour at Rattle’s Garden in Vilonia Arkansas. We got to take a first hand look at the hard work that goes into getting ready for the upcoming CSA season. We met with Tara, who is amazing at what she does as she’s first and foremost a mama and wife but also a really awesome farmer, who from my observation is rocking it in more ways than one. She showed us around their land where they’re growing all things from lettuce to broccoli to flowers to raising their 125 chickens! Needless to say we left there in awe of just how much love and knowledge they have invested in their jobs. I’m just happy someone out there has that much knowledge and experience because to be quite honest, I wouldn’t even know where to begin with starting and growing a fully functioning farm.
We even got to meet one of their adorable farm dogs, Jody as she roamed through the different rows of growing greens. You could tell she definitely didn’t hate her day job. 😉
The most exciting part of this program is that I’m going to get to expand my tastebuds and try out all kinds of different seasonal fruits and veggies from now until the end of their season in 16 weeks! I’ll pick up a new box every week starting with their Spring season starting up next week!
Want to know what’s in it for you? I’ll be sharing a new recipe EVERY week highlighting these farm fresh ingredients! I’ll be starting a new weekly series, “Chewsday Tuesday”, which will of course be posted every Tuesday! Make sure to keep an eye out for those new posts coming your way in just a few short weeks! I absolutely can’t wait to get started and dive into some new colorful recipes to share with you guys!
If you’re interested in getting signed up for your own CSA box in Arkansas, send me an email! I’d love to get you the details! They have 22 different pick up locations all over the state from Little Rock, to Cabot to Bryant to Fayetteville and Jonesboro. You can find out more at their website www.newsouthcoop.com.
I hope your Thursday has been wonderful in every way! I’ll talk to you soon!
As always, From Chelsea