What would you say if I offered you a weekly box of ultra-fresh, flavor to the max, organic, nutrient-dense produce at a reasonable price all while supporting your local farmers? This isn’t a ploy. My friend, this is Community Supported Agriculture.
Community Supported Agriculture, colloquially known as a CSA, is a unique agreement between a farm and the local community. Members pay in advance each year for a weekly share of farm grown produce. As members of a CSA, you join with the farmers in both the benefits — bountiful crops, open space, community, produce variety, direct relationship with farmers, access to u-pick, etc. — and the risks — crop failure, bad weather, disease outbreaks, weeds (1).
Each week you will have the privilege of eating vibrant, just-harvested produce. Say goodbye to wilted greens and tasteless tomatoes. Your produce will be harvested when it’s ripe and, in most cases, find its way into your kitchen within a day of being picked. This means better flavor and more nutrient-rich produce.
With a CSA share you can expect the freshest, most local produce, exposure to new vegetables (have you ever tried broccolini? You’ll want to!), an opportunity to learn more about where your food comes from, a chance to grow relationships with like-minded community members, and even the possibility to volunteer on the farm for a free or discounted share.
You’ll also find that many local farms have other offerings, such as honey from their own bees, a meat share if they raise cattle, and beautiful eggs from pasture-raised chickens.
Now that you’re drooling over the thought of freshly picked organic kale for dinner tonight, how do you find your very own local crop share? The first stop would be to visit your local farmers market. Chances are any farm with a CSA program will also have a farm stand. Second stop is an amazing online resource called Local Harvest (localharvest.org). Run by a small team of longtime food activists and passionate foodies, Local Harvest is a national directory that lists over 30,000 family farms and farmers markets, along with restaurants and grocery stores that feature local food. (2) If those first two options don’t yield positive results, then utilize a good ol’ internet search as a last resort.
You’ll find that the details of each farm’s CSA will vary, but generally speaking most will offer either a full or half share. Typically, a full share will range from $400-700 and will start in early spring, ending around Thanksgiving. I encourage you to either call or stop by your local farm to ask them about share prices, amounts of produce distributed, and length of season.
Some farms do what they call a store credit plan, where you pay anywhere from $125-$500 and can go to their farm store/stand and pick out what you would like, deducting it from your account each time. This is actually what I do. I have a wonderful local farm that has not only produce, but eggs, meat, raw milk, cheese, honey and always worth a look around, as they also carry local artisans things!
Assuming that you’ve been successful in your search for a local CSA, you’re likely wondering how to make the most of your share? Because we’re talking about only local, in-season produce, each box will truly vary from week to week. The harvest determines what and how much you will get. That’s the charm of a crop share. It provides a wonderful opportunity to exercise your creativity in the kitchen! Try new recipes, explore new cooking methods, and challenge yourself to make those weekly repeats in a few different ways.
Too much basil? Freeze some pesto. Overabundance of zucchini? Bake some bread. Something you really don’t like? Share with a friend.
So…what are you waiting for? Your ultra-fresh, flavor to the max, organic, nutrient-dense produce is in season! Get out there and crop share!
1 https://thehogfarm.org/csa-handbook
2 https://www.localharvest.org/
This month’s recipe in time for those summer cookouts! Curried Chicken Burgers.
Curried Chicken Burgers
Gluten free and dairy free
Serves 4
1 package of ground organic chicken (Or 4 chicken breasts and use the food processor to grind)
1/2 a stick of butter (dairy free, use 1/4 cup Ghee or coconut oil)
1 teaspoon curry
1 medium organic onion, chopped
1/8 cup finely chopped fresh organic basil
Pink Himalayan salt and organic black pepper to taste
Melt the butter on the stove, stir in the onions, curry, salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, combine the butter mixture and chopped basil with the ground chicken meat and use your hands to mix thoroughly.
Form the meat mixture into 4 chicken burgers.
You may grill them as I do, or you can bake them or sauté them in butter and olive oil!
They can be served with any of your favorite summer salads. The night I took the photo, I served them with risotto, creamed spinach, and a cucumber salad.
Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA)
I am SO excited to now be able to offer you Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis testing (HTMA testing) and consultations. I use Trace Elements Laboratory for all my HTMA labs, as recommended by Dr. Robert Thompson, author of The Calcium Lie II.
What is an HTMA?
A hair mineral analysis is a screening tool to view a measurement reading of the cells and interstitial spaces of the hair tissue. It does not measure the level of minerals in the entire body. The readings constitute a “Mineral System” that is kept in a certain balance. Hair grows from the inside to the outside of the cell; this is how it reflects the intracellular mineral content of our bodies. Over 95% of the minerals in the body are intracellular, so hair is an EXTREMELY valuable diagnostic tool.
How will it help you?
First and Foremost, Your Thyroid and Adrenals!!
This is more than hormones circulating in your blood that you are used to seeing in blood labs, it shows what your cells can receive. This can be the missing piece for those of us with thyroid disease and adrenal issues. If your replacement hormones cannot get into the cells to be used, you will continue to struggle and have symptoms. For many of us, this may mean we will be able to reduce our hormone replacement doses as our cells can better receive it, once we balance our minerals.
Your Individual Nutrition Needs:
This allows you to see whether you have a slow or a fast metabolism, and what specific stage in that you are at. This allows me to help you with specific foods to either speed up your metabolism, or to slow it down. I also will be better guided in what foods you may need more of due to specific mineral imbalances you may have.
Your Specific Mineral Deficiencies and Imbalances:
This allows you to see not only what minerals you may be deficient in, but also what minerals are out of balance that need to work together. Each mineral has an impact on another mineral, they need to be working well together. We need minerals to be able to utilize vitamins!
Your Heavy Metal Levels and Detoxification Needs:
HTMA is a wonderful screening tool for heavy metals, including mercury, lead, arsenic, nickel, aluminum, uranium and more. HTMA is a very reliable indicator of heavy metal toxicity. I do recommend working on detox pathways, digestion and gut health so that your body can gently detox these on their own as it was designed to do. The HTMA is a wonderful tool to monitor the detoxification process.
Your Mental Health and Well Being:
The connection between depression, anxiety, mood disorders, ADD, ADHD, PMS and brain fog is very often, missing minerals, amino acids and or excess heavy metals in the body.
The way this works:
On my website, linked below, you choose if you want to see me one time for the HTMA Consultation or four times with the HTMA 3-Month Package. Click in the box below the option you chose and pay for your appointment(s), this is linked directly to PayPal. Be sure to fill out the address and email section when you do that! I will be notified that you have paid, and I will mail out your test kit with instructions, I will also email you to acknowledge receipt and instructions as well. Once your test results come back to me, I will email you a link to make your appointment(s). Usually I receive your results and contact you about 2 weeks after you have sent in your test to the lab.
Right now I am offering beta pricing on the one time consultation:
Beta pricing to the first 8 people who sign up $250
5 slots left!
The HTMA Consultation:
1 session Includes:
- One 75-minute session where we will go over your HTMA results and you will receive a copy of the results as well as a report and hand-outs
- 2 weeks of email support after our appointment
- Customized 10-12-week game plan to support you
- Cost of lab fee
- Discount on Supplements
To sign up and take advantage of this offer, use the link below:
https://farmorpharma.com/htma-services/
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You DESERVE to live a life you love with endless energy!
I help those with thyroid disease to repair damage to gut, blood sugar balance, adrenals and hormones,
so that they too, can have endless energy and truly love and live life again.
Schedule a FREE discovery call below
to see if Nutritional Therapy is right for you!
https://farmorpharma.com/nutritonal-therapy-services/