MakingMine

Carrots, apples and lettuce straight from the winter market! 

A couple of weeks ago J and I made a new, lasting commitment…

…to a farm. Yep, here’s the story:

A woman in a class of mine mentioned on the first day of class that she worked for a local farm. A few weeks later I saw her tweet about the farm and clicked through to the website. About half and hour and 20 pages later, I was completely convinced that this was something J and I needed to take part in. 

The JenEhr Farm in Sun Prairie, WI grows organic vegetables and sells them at local farmer’s markets year round. They also have CSA (community supported agriculture) options that allow individuals and families to reserve allotments of produce during different times of the year. This was a new concept to me, but I immediately liked the idea for various reasons. J and I have been on a journey of healthy living and this seemed like the answer to our struggle with finding fresh, high quality produce.

I mentioned joining the CSA to J in passing. He liked the idea, but we didn’t talk about it again for a few more weeks. Then as luck would have it, my college was having a health fair that JenEhr was participating in. J and I talked over our options in more detail, I met with one of the farmers at the fair, and the rest is history. I signed on the dotted line, and our share starts in June.

Here are the fast facts:

• From June - November J and I will receive a box of produce every other week at our neighborhood farmer’s market
• The box is “as is.” No requests. No preferences. You get what you get.
• In November J and I will get a large supply of produce known as the Fall Storage Share - perfect for hosting Thanksgiving and freezing for use throughout the winter ahead.
• As CSA members, we will be invited to strawberry picking events out at the farm and are allotted a share :)

We are thrilled at this “by chance” meeting and are so excited for our share to start in June. Receiving a box of random veggies seems a little daunting, but I can’t wait to try new foods and experiment with recipes all summer. The pick-up couldn’t be easier - close to home and convenient timing. And strawberry picking?! It’s like they can see through to my soul! Mmmm… strawberries :)

A quick note of importance: Many companies have programs to reimburse employees for making healthy decisions such as joining a CSA. If this is a route you’re looking to try, I would highly recommend contacting your HR rep and asking about any options available. Who knows? You could be happily surprised, we were!

J and I finally took the time this weekend to watch a documentary that’s been on our list for months - Forks over Knives. It was an incredibly enlightening view on exactly how the diet decisions we make daily have a longterm impact on our overall health. We both really enjoyed the film and had some pretty major takeaways. If you haven’t seen it, we highly recommend watching it. It’s available to stream via Netflix, and their website has some additional options for viewing.

We both want to make a significant change in our lifestyle and are working on a plan to implement a plant-based, whole foods diet. If the past year has taught us anything about jumpstarting a change, we know that we need a plan. Random and impulsive decisions don’t have much longevity and are the perfect storm of imminent failure. The past few days have been about absorbing as much research as possible to make truly mindful decisions about what is best for us as a family.

So no, I haven’t ravaged our pantry and freezer throwing away anything and everything that contains animals :)

We’re taking small steps and adding vegan components to our diet while slowly removing animal-based foods. Today we’re starting the first phase of our journey. I’ll take some time this week to share our long-term (continually revised) plan with you all.