Tikvat Israel CSA

We split a veggie and an egg share with another family for the 2011 Summer and Autumn seasons, and were delighted with the experience. I feel like we lucked out by finding Tikvat Israel, for many reasons. The produce was amazing: fresh, tasty, and in terrific variety. I grew to love Calvert Farm's "Random Acts of Veggies" that meant a surprise would be in the box. The community was very organized and prepared a wonderful CSA newsletter each week. I also feel that I learned quite a bit about Jewish culture from these hospitable neighbors.

So many great veggies meant we ate healthier, the fridge stayed stocked from week-to-week with just a five minute pickup (this is the most convenient way to get quality produce into your life) and we learned to explore new foods. We did get tired of seeing fresh corn during summer, and there are a lot of squashes and pumpkins in the house I haven't quite got to cooking yet--but the lesson I didn't learn until a bit late was to freeze and can. I'll know next year.

Eggs are fresh and tasty. They were brown eggs, varied in size from medium to jumbo but tended to be large, and were a bargain. We learned that you need to let fresh eggs age a bit in the fridge if you want to hard-boil them.

The volunteer commitment for the CSA is light and well-organized. A bonus is that Tikvat Israel has refrigerators to store items that don't get picked up on time, making it easier to get out of Dodge when the last shift ends.

We will be back!