The first day

I am so glad our CSA sends out a newsletter. 2 months before our first pick up, a newsletter went out explaining how it worked. 

Pickup- Mondays between 4:30-6:30pm (if you can't pick it up, someone can pick it up on your behalf or they can put it in a cooler for you to get the next day)

Boxes- there is 1 box per share. you can take the box each week but you have to remember to bring it back because it is the only one you get.

Location- on campus near the wine and beer growing centers. really hard to find- they gave a hand drawn map to confuse you even more (if I didn't drive past this on my commute each day, it would have been very hard to find)

Items- the students pre-pack the veggies in your share into the box. if there is a surplus of an item, you can grab more of it when you pick up your items

U-pick- there is a u-pick garden where you can pick herbs and fruits as they come in season

As the first pick up approached, they sent out another newsletter letting you know that the beginning of the season has less than the end so don't be disappointed in the first week if the box isn't overflowing. The newsletter also asked everyone to attend an orientation during the first pickup. Finally, the newsletter listed the vegetables that would be available that week and some recipes to help you use them. 

At the first pick-up, my coworker, her husband, and I all went to the orientation. We came straight from work to make the 5:30pm orientation and were still in our work clothes. About half of the other people were too so we didn't feel too out of place. However, we all opted out of the walking tour of the actual garden as it was a mile or so down a long dusty road. We said we'd do that another time. 

There is a main table where you pick up your share and they cross your name off the list. My co-worker and I both have our name down on the share so either can pick it up (which is super helpful as there will be weeks where one of us is not able to get there).

There is a side table where you can split your share. It even has a cutting board and knife, extra bags, etc. This was very helpful. We ended up cutting a head of lettuce in half and it meant that we both got a little of everything the first week. Here is what we got:

Salad Mix

Head of lettuce

Joi Choy

Green Onions

Spinach

Radishes

Chard

Rosemary

Beets

Lessons learned:

-During a week where there isn't much, splitting everything half way means neither of you have enough to do a full recipe. I strongly recommend alternating who gets what unless you really want to try it all. We'll see if that is still true as the produce becomes more abundant. 

-Try the recipes they provide. Some were out of this world (I'll share my favorites in a bit). 

-Goat cheese works with everything!