And My Life Changed. Poof. Like That.

It was an innocent day. He was standing next to baskets of innocent peppers, albeit purple, and tomatoes, albeit heirloom, and cucumbers, albeit round and yellow. We had an innocent conversation. And my life changed. Poof. Like that.

Since that innocent day when I first met Farmer D, I have participated in CSAs for five years (CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture and it's when folks pay a farmer directly, up front, for a share of that year's crops, which they then pick up in a pre-packaged box every week from a designated central location).

The first year, I got my crops from Full Moon Farm, an organic research farm affiliated with a professor from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia about an hour away. The crops were delivered to a community center near me. Picking up the crops was a highly social event, with the farmers there to chat and other CSA members lingering for awhile. Fun.

The second year, Full Moon Farm delivered CSA shares to centralized CSA member porches, each serving about ten members. That whole summer, I never saw another member, including the one whose porch hosted the crops in big coolers so the Atlanta heat wouldn't completely wilt them. Not as fun.

The third year, Full Moon limited distribution to Athens because they were also starting a restaurant, Farm 255, that would rely on the fresh produce from the farm. Concurrently, Farmer D started Serenbe Farms at the absolutely gorgeous community, Serenbe, about an hour south of Atlanta. He now had a stand at the farmers market, so I picked up my Serenbe Farms CSA box every week there. Serenbe did a great job, but their soil was not so great yet and it definitely showed in the crop yields. That's when I met Charlotte, munching away on her sweet, raw corn at the next booth at the market. Charlotte had a CSA also and her boxes were always bulging with abundance. I started coveting her boxes. Not so good.

Year Four, as destiny would have it, Farmer D moved to Hampton Island Preserve to start a new farm, Serenbe limited CSA box distribution to on-the-farm only, and I moved over to Charlotte's Riverview Farms CSA. Charlotte and her husband Wes own the largest certified organic farm in Georgia. It is on fertile Cherokee Indian soil, nestled on the banks of the Coosawatee River in North Georgia. Her crops are diverse and gorgeous, week after week. She also sells grass-fed beef and pastured kuributo pork. Charlotte no longer had a booth at my market but left her boxes with Chad the Milkman. Which is how I met him and started buying milk from Chad. All good.

So this year, I'm still with Charlotte (the photo above is what I received in yesterday's box, all for $25) but she's dropping her boxes at Parsley's Catering. Which is how I met Mark. Who went to camp with Farmer D when they were kids. Which only proves, once again, that it is all a circle, and we are all connnected. And it all works out in the end.

To find a CSA near you, go to www.localharvest.org. Or ask around. You may be surprised to find out who you know who's actually in-the-know on this rapidly-growing way to connect with local, organic food and help support family farmers.