Saturday mornings are sacred in your world. High stress and long hours during the week make sleeping a little later, then slowly savoring your rich breakfast blend tea before walking the dog your highest priority to start the weekend. You take a moment to check Instagram while the dog does her business and see lovely greens and flowers at the farmers market. With a sigh, you think, “if only there was farmers market produce delivery”.
It’s your lucky day! You can enjoy the amazing bounty produced by your local farmers without waking up early on a Saturday or fighting the midday crowds. Farmers market produce delivery does exist, perhaps in ways you never even imagined.
Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, is a method of getting farm fresh produce that has been around for a while. The basic premise is for a set price (and sometimes work on the farm) you pre-buy a share of the harvest from the farm. You pick up a box every week at the farm or get a delivery with a selection of the best produce of the week. Often you can choose a full share or a half share for a smaller family.
The farmer wins because they know for that growing season they already have paying customers. They have an income they can count on. You win because you get a great variety of what is in season with a quick pick up. Some CSAs will also offer add-ons like bread, eggs and coffee.
If you want to join a CSA in your area for the summer season do it now! I know many of them in the Ozarks started taking summer CSA members at the beginning of May. Do a Google Search for CSA near me or CSA (your city), see what comes up and contact them as soon as possible. When I checked the popular Millsap Farms CSA last week they still had a couple of spots but I am sure they will go fast.
What if you missed the CSA cutoff? Or maybe your local CSA only does pickup and you really need delivery? There are still a couple of other methods of farmers market produce delivery.
There are companies who work with local farmers to create a specially curated box of the best produce to be delivered to you. Some of these are national but I prefer to look for one that is local. In the Ozarks, one example is Farm2Counter. They work much like a CSA but work with multiple farmers and vendors to bring fresh local food to your home or office every week.
A service like Farm2Counter gives you another form of flexibility that a CSA may not. Farm2Counter lets you log in into their web site where you can customize the veggies in your box, turn off your delivery for a week or even add an extra delivery if needed. Like a CSA, you can also get extras from amazing local companies like the Grove Salsa Company or Edgewood Creamery.
But what if you need even more flexibility? I can’t speak fore the rest of the world but I know in 417-land we have one more super cool option. If you don’t want to be tied to a subscription for your farmers market produce delivery you can turn to UberEats.
Urban Roots Farm has signed up with the UberEats service to allow you to order off their menu of available produce and have it delivered to the location of your choice. It works just like ordering lunch but instead you can get veggies for the week along with coffee from The Coffee Ethic for your mornings.
As of last week, when I placed an order, there was mostly greens on the menu but I also saw carrots, mushrooms, herbs and beets on the menu. It is still early in the growing season in the Ozarks so I expect the menu to expand rapidly in the next few weeks.
Dreams can come true, at least when it comes to farmers market product delivery. Choose one of these flexible options to enjoy the bounty of the harvest without fighting for parking or sacrificing your sleep. Or you can try a visit the Farmers Market of the Ozarks on Thursday evenings during the summer!
