Bloomfield-Montclair CSA Members Buy Veggies Straight Off The Truck

Although Sabina Ernst's home is located on one of Montclair's busiest through roads, standing outside her front door, it feels as if you just walked two blocks and landed in Vermont. Bees buzz industriously along her front path pollinating a tangle of flowers mixed with vegetables. The back yard is stuffed with gardens where Ernst grows raspberries, herbs, and peas. There is a beehive here as well along with a butterfly garden and a composting pile.

Ernst, a local veterinarian and mother, laughs, "I grow all the expensive stuff!" The berries that her two boys don't pluck will be turned into homemade jam. Ernst grew tired of paying a fortune for fresh vegetables and fruits such as berries, so four years ago when a friend told her about the Bloomfield-Montclair CSA, she decided to join. She is now one of the five managers that keep the group organized.

A relatively new phenomenon that took root in the United States sometime in the 1980s, CSAs (the acronym stands for Community Supported Agriculture) are collectives of individuals who pay a set fee directly to a farmer in order to secure crops in advance. This arrangement benefits the farmers because they receive the money they need to grow and harvest in the beginning of the planting season and their income is secure even when weather-related problems negatively impact the crops' yield.

The benefits to members are numerous. The food is fresh-picked, the cost is below market value, and packaging waste is practically eliminated. Members develop a relationship with a farmer and can even suggest new crops to add. Bloomfield-Montclair's CSA operates in conjunction with farmer John Krueger of Starbrite Farm, located in Hardwick Township, New Jersey.

Ernst likes that her children know where their food is coming from, and have a chance to visit the farm too. "Eating local, eating seasonal is really important to me. And it tastes really good! The first time you eat John's broccoli, it's like stepping into a whole other world of taste," she said. Many Montclair residents have seen John's vegetables at the Montclair Farmers' Market. He is the only organic farmer in residence there. Kreuger's entire harvest is committed to five area CSAs and the two farmers' markets that he attends.

Bloomfield-Montclair's CSA is large. There are currently 132 members, and over 80 more waiting to join. Members pay a flat fee of around $550 in March which breaks down to approximately $24 per weekly delivery. Share deliveries start arriving in June and extend all the way until Thanksgiving.

Ernst's driveway is the larger of two delivery points in Montclair. Food arrives packed on ice in large plastic bins and members take turns setting up a mini farmer's market to distribute it. Farmer John provides a written inventory for the week and Ernst transcribes this menu listing the items for members to collect on to a café style blackboard. Members are given a large window of time within which to stop by and pick up their weekly allotment.

A typical week's share might include as many as 10 different items including standard offerings such as arugula, beans, cabbage, carrots, eggplant, and garlic as well as some less common offerings such as garlic scapes and purslane. With four year's experience in the CSA, Ernst has discovered she's able to use almost her entire share, but she admits that there was a bit of a learning curve involved.

"At the beginning, I was definitely throwing more into the compost pile, but I have learned better ways of storing food so it keeps longer," she said. "I know now what I have to eat right away and what can keep and I cook around that. At this point I compost very little now that I am a seasoned veteran."

The purslane, for example, required some Googling in order to prepare. "I put it in a lovely salad and it was quite delicious, it elevated it from a weed to a delectable ingredient," she said. "You do have to have a bag of tricks of what you can do with a certain vegetable. It's different from going from store to store. You have to plan around what is in front of you instead of looking at a recipe and going shopping."

In addition to John's produce, CSA members have the option of purchasing a fruit share supplied by Tree-licious Orchards in Port Murray, New Jersey and fresh organic eggs and poultry from Havenwood Farms in Newton, New Jersey. Honey and berries are also offered in season. This week Ernst is asking members to confirm their blueberry orders. Some members are expecting to receive 10 pounds each next week, and a lot of talk in the delivery line is centered on how best to store them. Although methods vary, no one seems particularly daunted by the task. Ernst is already imagining how good the jam will taste next winter when all this bounty has ended until next year.

If you would like more information on joining the Bloomfield-Montclair CSA, you can find more information about the group and its farmers on line at http://bloomfield-montclaircsa.org. Although there is a waiting list, new members are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis every March.