CSA Pick-up #1

Bye bye (for now) farmers' markets. Goodbye flowers ('til the law gets changed).

Today is Friday, October 9 and it's CSA pick-up day #1.
45 shareholders.

I pick up the veggies from Farmer John in Echo Park, and drive to the pick-up point in Silver Lake. It's a big day for me today. A turning point. The smell of cilantro and celery fill the van. It used to smell of sweet pea flowers. I remember Holly, at the Echo Park Farmers' Market, liked to stop and inhale the scent of "April in Paris" sweet peas wafting out the window of my van as I pulled into market. Happy flower moment but that's now in the past.

This first CSA pick-up day, I'm excited about meeting shareholders for the first time.

Bree is at the pick-up point to help me unload the van. We line the crates up ready for our first handover and add a loofah sponge to each box. I grew the loofahs but I don't have any vegetables yet for the boxes. All the veggies are Farmer John's.

Since getting shut down in the spring for selling homegrown flowers, I haven't planted a thing. I've been sitting behind the computer reinventing Silver Lake Farms. When I grew flowers, I used to spend all day every day in the garden. Not any more. Not yet, anyway. I'll be out there again soon planting veggies, I know. I just need some inspiration first.

Bree, Spencer and John Allen volunteer their time to help distribute Farmer John's veggies to CSA members every Friday. We've only just met but we have a laugh hanging out next to crates of greens, sharing thoughts and experiences and meeting people who love to cook with fresh local veggies straight from the farm.

Big thank you to shareholders, huge thank you to Farmer John, and you're the best: Spencer, John & Bree!

Hello CSA! Hello vegetables.