Time to sign up with a CSA for seasonal local food

The first day of spring might be seven weeks away, but if you want to support local farmers and enjoy a weekly share of their produce during the warmer seasons, you should sign up now for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

As the Washington Post's Leigh Lambert notes in "Where to Sign Up for a CSA," these programs can be pick-up or delivery and work like so: You pay an annual or seasonal membership fee and then each week you receive a box of produce -- a share of the harvest -- for a certain number of weeks. Usually you have to go pick up the share.

Farms and farmer's markets run these programs. I can highly recommend the CSA provided by Norman's Farm Market. We started it last fall and enjoyed all of the produce, especially the things that were knew to us, such as tiny eggplants of all different colors; orange and purple cauliflowers; and baby bok choy, which we had never cooked before.

If you've never done a CSA, try it out -- you'll be amazed at the bounty of our local farms! Click the Post article link above for a list of local CSAs. To find more farms and farmer's markets near you, try the Local Harvest site.