CSA decisions '09 and pre gardening

Here it is April and it is time for me to think about CSAs and gardening. Since it's so early I don't have to do much more than thinking which is bug free and can be done inside at a sunny window [or you know a window with snow/sleet swirling outside--whatever]. Pretty sweet.

We joined a highly recommended salad based CSA last year. We figured we certainly needed more salad in our lives. It didn't end up being a good fit for us though. We wanted more of a mixture of veggies not just greens that ended up needing to be used very fast and were at times very hard to identify.

So I have spent some time over the winter researching various CSAs and we have many to choose from around here. We decided to go with Driftless Organics. We like what we have heard about them, the boxes look like they have a good mix, including local soft fruits and root veggies. They also do unrefined, local sunflower oil, we got a small share of that. I am feeling pretty pumped. Who cares about winter having a last hurrah up here? Fresh tomatoes and BLTs with organic cottage bacon are closer than they seem.

I have also been musing about gardening this year in our large southerly exposure yard. I have never been much of a gardener. Not something my family had room to do. But I have been thinking. Eating good quality food is so important to me. Being more connected to my food is something I am working on. I want to appreciate my food for all the effort that goes into it. I want to be more engaged. Also I don't want to stress myself out or bite off more than I can chew. I want to do things small.

We have a double lot here in town with lots of sun and space on one side. We have a nice warm low bed perhaps 4' x 20' where we have some roses and delphiniums planted with plenty of room for additions. There is a primitive but useful watering system set up there and it gets plenty of light. There are lovely neighborhood nurseries I like supporting. I think I may actually do some gardening this year and not just flowers and herbs but some veggies like tomatoes and peppers.

I am a bit excited about it. Fingers crossed I am maintain some focus and enthusiasm as the spring progresses. Related goal: Finally get a compost bin set up, it's so silly that we don't have one with all this room.