Mountain View Farm

We became members of a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) this year! Mountain View Farm is here in Easthampton, MA, and so far it's going great.

We had never done the farm share thing before, especially coming from NYC, although apparently they are available there, too - we have friends in Astoria who just started theirs as well.

We weren't sure we wanted to spend the money (that fear of spending a good amount of money up front is terrifying!), but we decided to go for it one day a few months ago. We were in the mood for grilled vegetables, so we stopped at our local Big Y (in Southampton, it's the closest store to us) to pick up some squash and other veggies. That one trip to the grocery store cost nearly $50! That's when we decided we'd rather spend our money to get locally grown produce straight from the farm (and, ultimately, we're saving a ton of money!).

Since we started getting our shares, we've been so pleased. It's been a great opportunity to a) eat more healthfully since we're BOTH trying to get back to our pre-pregnancy weight, b) feel like part of a community and c) experiment with things I might never have heard of or gotten otherwise, like garlic scapes, turnips and green garlic!

Also, there are always parents with kids there, picking flowers and learning new things. I can't wait until Ruby is old enough to enjoy it.

All this, and the farm is in a gorgeous setting and it always feels calm and relaxed there - it's like therapy!