Rise & Shine Farm

We learned so much from the MacFarlands about natural and organic techniques. Even the experience of losing crops to some of the worst growing conditions in recent years helped our family to learn about the risks and benefits of using local produce. By losing familiar crops, we expanded our use and knowledge of unfamiliar- and delicious! - vegetables.

I normally spend about 1/3rd of my shopping budget on produce each week. I estimate that the CSA cut these costs by about 30-50%. Using drying and freezing, we are still using produce from this summer in March, and my produce bill remains low; I estimate that overall we will have saved on the order of $400-500 in produce costs. On top of that, the taste and nutritional quality of what we are cooking is far superior to even the best quality store-bought produce.

The time commitment had direct benefits in involving our whole family in growing, harvesting, preparing and eating the food together.