Eat Local! The Adventure of Vegetable CSAs

Nothing like a snowstorm to get everyone cooking, eh?

By day three of hibernation, social media feeds showed fewer images of shoveled paths and snowy landscapes and more shots of colorful root vegetables alongside calls for recipe suggestions. A kitchen stocked with staples and fresh ingredients sure can be motivating and comforting.

But how do we stay motivated to experiment in the kitchen beyond the snowstorms? Beyond the first month of New Year’s Resolutions? Keep it fresh?

Sometimes it takes a commitment. Similar to fitness programs, like paying in advance for six yoga sessions a month, Community Supported Agriculture programs help customers commit to cooking healthy, diverse meals just as much as they help the farmers plan their season.

What is Community Supported Agriculture?

In short, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an increasingly popular model that invites community members to invest in their local farms in the spring, and in return receive a weekly share of produce throughout the growing season.

The CSA model started on two farms in 1986 and has since become a nationwide movement bringing farmers and consumers closer together with one another and with the roots of their food. Several thousand Community Supported Agriculture farms currently feed more than 150,000 people in the United States alone.

“Share members” find adventure in eating seasonally. As they are reconnected to the land that feeds them, and regularly engage with their farmers and with other members, they find that this adventure in “eating local” leads them to fresher, better tasting, longer lasting and healthier home-cooked meals. They receive a weekly newsletter alongside their vegetables, offering storage tips, recipe suggestions, and news from the farm. They dine knowing that they are supporting farms that care for local land and water, and are giving their food dollars to the local economy.

Willowsford Farm Vegetable CSA & Farm Stand

Willowsford Farm, located just off of Evergreen Mills Rd and nestled into the Willowsford community in Ashburn, is currently taking sign ups for their 2016 Vegetable CSA shares.

Founded in 2011, the farm’s first full growing season in 2012 supported a CSA community of 50 families from nearby neighborhoods. Now in their fifth year, the Willowsford CSA will serve nearly 250 families. Members who opt for a Regular-sized share enjoy 8-10 items each week: a mix of salad fixings, leafy vegetables, root crops, herbs, and “vegetable” fruits like tomatoes and cucumbers. Small shareholders receive a similar mix of 4-5 items.

The farm also offers egg shares, courtesy of a happy flock of free-range, pastured laying hens, fed no antibiotics or growth hormones; poultry shares raised with those same practices; and flower shares courtesy of Greenstone Fields flower farm and friends Barbara Lamborne and Dennis Fuze.

Members are invited to pot lucks hosted at the farm throughout the year and encouraged to attend Chef Bonnie Moore’s cooking classes, held in the neighborhood kitchens and tailored around seasonal produce, kitchen techniques and both beginning and seasoned cooks. Uniquely, Willowsford Farm CSA members are given the option to pick up their shares at the Farm Stand, where they can shop for additional grocery staples, carefully selected from trusted local producers. On top of loads of vegetables, eggs and chickens from the farm, the Farm Stand also sells meats, dairy, baked goods, fruit, cheeses, flowers, sauces, and ready-to-eat soups, sides and salads made with farm ingredients.

You don’t have to be a member of the CSA, or live in the Willowsford Community, to visit the Farm Stand, which is - of course - open to all, five days a week beginning this April. Items available at the Farm Stand:

Milk, Butter and Ice Cream from Trickling Springs Creamery, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Beef and Pork from Heritage Hollow Farms, Sperryville, Virginia
Soups, Salads, Jams and Sauces from the Willowsford Kitchen
Lamb from New Asbury Farm, Leesburg, Virginia
Local Cheeses, Fruit & Baked Goods

To learn more about the cost and pick-up locations for the 27-week 2016 CSA season at Willowsford Farm, visit and browse the farm website or head straight to the registration page and sign up.

Willowsford Farm Stand
2016 Hours of Operation, May - November
Tuesday 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Wednesday 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Thursday 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Friday 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am - 2:00 pm