So, I just found a local farm 10 minutes from my house, pretty cool! I looked it up and they sell shares of their harvest for $38 a week for 12 weeks (fall harvest). I'm seriously considering doing it instead of going to Walmart or bi lo every week to buy veggies and fruits. We would get a full share basket of fruits, veggies, and eggs (possibly meat I have to check) every week to work with. Ive just never done anything like this before so I'm a little indecisive, especially since we are on a tight budget. Eating clean is not cheap!

Anyone here gotten foods from a local farm buying shares? The farm has great reviews and its so close, and I would love to give my business to them and not Walmart!

Well, we joined the farm, and so far it's been awesome. Got our first share last week of sweet potatoes, parsnips, cucumbers, carrots, butternut squash, kale, romaine, eggs, and apples. Everything has been really delicious!

I'm feeling a little self conscious that no one has responded, makes me feel a little like the reject of the forum, but hopefully that's not the case.

I think that is a wonderful idea! I don't know how big your family is, but I hope you find it worthwhile. If you begin to realize it is too much food for you, ask a friend if they would like to split the weekly bounty in half and share the cost. Or you can freeze anything you don't use. There's a lot of resources online for how best to freeze fruits and veggies.

I would love to do something like that, but my boyfriend is so picky I would end up having to eat most of it myself.

I think it is awesome you are able to do this. I have been tempted but the cost always freaks me out, even though it is worth it.

Oh gosh, I know how that feels. Frankly, I'm thinking of calling myself "Thread Killer" . Your collection of veggies sounds marvelous. And, if you ever end up with more than you need, you could always share a week's bounty with an elderly neighbor or a small shelter. (The food pantry near me encourages neighbors to plant an extra row for families in the community -- a very neat concept.)

That is great!! I am big on supporting local farms! We go through a group local farm that delivers their produce to their customers which is very convenient.

We have a farm by us that does a crop share. Every weekend they send out an email of what will be part of the bundle and the price (it varies every week) and you reply if you want in or not and then you go pick it up during the week. We've done it several times now and really like it. Much rather support a local farmer than a big store!

So far we have been really happy with our shares. Our last share was AWESOME! On thursdays I drive out to pick stuff up (they can deliver, but I choose not to because If I go in person I can trade things I won't use for others, which is nice!). This week we got a bunch of kale, corn, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, parsnips, grapes, organic brown rice, pears, celery, rainbow carrots, and onions. I'm loving it, and my husband is even enjoying my new recipes!.

we love parsnip chips (delicious!), sweet potato noodles (I run them through my spiralizer and make either noodles, sweet potato hashbrowns, or baked shoelace fries) , garlic sauteed kale, and oven roasted rainbow carrots.

As far as the money, $455 upfront is definitely scary. But, I don't buy other veggies/fruits from the store anymore, I plan meals around what I get from the farm, and it's awesome. I'm buying less snacks (because we have so many snacky veggies). So, when I think about it, the farm costs $38/week, which I'm definitely getting back now by not buying that same stuff at the grocery every week (not to mention I'm getting organically grown food, and I'd rather give that money to Mini Miracles Farm than Walmart!)

So, I'm considering it one of my best discoveries of the year!

claygirl Would appreciate knowing your model spiralizer. Sounds like it's working out well. Thanks!

It's the Paderno World Cuisine A4982799 Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer. I got it on amazon for about $35. Definitely worth it, I use it all the time to make veggie noodles, string fries, and veggie chips. Yum!

I love it too - I bought it almost two years ago and loved it so much I immediately bought one for my mom too.

http://www.inspiralized.com/ is the best website for really creative recipes using veggie noodles.

Thanks very much Claygirl & Munchy!