This week we sat down and listed a handful of reasons why you should sign up for a CSA with us! Are you a lapsed CSA member? Maybe it's time to ponder re-joining us! We miss you! With the influx of delectable leafy-green-heavy crops and spring right around the corner, 'tis the season to join our farm community and get yourself a CSA share!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

1. SUPPORT LOCAL

By joining our CSA, you are supporting a locally owned and operated business. Buying local helps our economy as well as supply jobs and support the livelihood of fellow Austinites. Unique local businesses are part of what makes Austin and Texas so special!

Our CSA can augment your regular weekly shopping list, ensuring that you have some of that scrumptious local produce in your diet, too! A little goes a long way!

2. Good for your Health

Farm-fresh vegetables are jam packed with vitamins and minerals that are essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Two and a half cups a day says the FDA? Ain’t no thang with a CSA headed your way.

3. Freshest-Possible Veggies

Cultivated in East Austin and harvested no more than a day or two before reaching your doorstep, these vegetables are at peak nutrition and flavor. Getting a CSA share with JBG means you know exactly where your food is coming from and how it's grown. GMO? Heck no! Come out for a volunteer day, see your crops in the field, and ask your farmers about it!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

4. Know your Seasons

Eating locally connects you to the seasons, to the land, and to your own health and wellness. Cucumbers will cool you down in the summer, while braised collards will warm you up when the temperatures start to drop. Enjoy the best pico de gallo of your life during the short window when cilantro, onions, peppers, and tomatoes all overlap, and we promise you'll never go back to the store-bought stuff again. You'll get acclimated with the seasons on a whole new level, and learn about what naturally grows when and why.

5. Try New Foods

With farmers who are constantly chompin’ at the bit to try a new crop, who knows what will show up in your CSA box. From the array of Asian greens to the broad pepper spectrum, keep your mind wide open to a whole new world of vegetables you never even knew existed.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

6. Experiment in the Kitchen

With JBG veggies arriving every week, you will have to innovate in the kitchen. Get out of your comfort zone and try something new!

7. Protecting our Environment

By supporting JBG, you are ensuring sustainable land management, and organic certification guarantees that we never spray harmful chemicals on the farm.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

8. Reduce Food Miles

It's estimated that the average American meal travels over 1500 miles before making it to a dinner plate. With all of that fuel, even a plant-based meal might not be so eco-friendly. We do wave at the planes going by, though, our farm is just 10 miles east of the Austin-Bergstrom airport!

9. Flexibility

Gone on vacation for a week or a month? No problemo, we make it super easy to postpone your weekly deliveries. Got a big family, or just feeding yourself? We have 4 different box sizes that cater to your lifestyle. JBG also offers add-ons of local eggs from pasture-raised hens, and small batch locally roasted coffee as well. Customize your box with your favorite veggie and ditch the ones you aren’t keen on.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

10. Get involved with our CSA Community

With member-only dinners, happy hours, plant sales, cooking classes, yoga + races at the farm, PYO-events, we really emphasize the “C” of CSA. We want the farm to connect awesome people, whether at one of the aforementioned events or at your community pick-up site! Speaking of exclusive farm events, be on the lookout for our Spring Transplant Sale and Picnic!

11. JBG on the WWW

On our website, you can stay current on farm events, sign up for our weekly newsletter, grab storage tips from our veggie guide, check out the weekly CSA content list, peruse weekly photo-updates from the field, and check out our recipe blogger’s latest CSA culinary exploration.

12. Farm Community on the WWW

If our website isn’t enough, our CSA community loves sharing how they innovate with their veggies on social media outlets. Check out our Instagram or FB, we love re-posting awesome recipes, photos, and videos from the community. Running low on recipe ideas, and want to see what other folks are doing with our produce? Check out our jbgorganic hashtag!

Potluck. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

13. Farm Access

Located on the Colorado River, JBG’s 200 acres of verdant crops and brilliant blooms are often otherworldly. As a CSA member, you will have access to our little oasis of wilderness whether it be at a JBG CSA event, or through volunteering!

14. Know your Farmers

Montana seeds the crops, Ada champions our marketing efforts, Brenton and Charlotte manage the fields, Krishna crunches numbers, Matt and his crew carefully pack every single CSA box... we love our people, and think you will, too. Come and meet us, we are regular Austin folks, just like you.

Charlotte. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

15. Farmers Markets

If you pick up at one of our many farmer’s markets, you have the ability to switch out veggies that you aren't fond of with the bounty we offer at our FM stands. Pretty cool, right? On top of that, it’ll get you outside interacting with people, and who knows what hip and healthy folks you’ll meet!

16. Farmers Market Staff

Our FM staff is the best in the biz (okay, okay, we are super biased), but seriously, introduce yourself! They know all the veggie hacks, hail from all over the place, and have all kinds of talents and alter-egos. Artists, teachers, law students, musicians, dreamers, writers, you name it! Bop on by and learn something new while browsing through our market crops!

17. Feed Those in Need

Thanks to the support of our CSA members, JBG is able to donate thousands of pounds of produce every year to large operations like SafePlace, Central Texas Food Bank, as well as grassroots efforts like Nubian Queen Lola who are all helping to keep Austin’s hungry, nurtured and fed.

SafePlace. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

18. WACKY and WONKY FRUITS and VEGGIES

?CAPTION CONTEST? (because you can make the jokes that we can't.) Caption that elicits the most laughs from our office staff will get a free melon. ??Go! ??

A photo posted by Johnson's Backyard Garden (@jbgorganic) on Jul 27, 2016 at 10:06am PDT

19. JBG hats

Reppin’ on your head but not on your plate? Add some JBG veggies to your diet and see what we’re all about.

20. FOOD MAIL!?

In a world where the fast-paced, high tech lifestyle seems ubiquitous, who doesn’t love a box full of veg-surprises on your doorstep?! It’s like food snail mail! We sometimes even leave little personal notes about what's going on with the crops and/or upcoming events!

21. Farm Work-out Videos!

#tbt to the glorious day, about a year ago, when Erica Nix and her amazing flock jazzed up the farm.

A photo posted by Johnson's Backyard Garden (@jbgorganic) on Sep 22, 2016 at 2:31pm PDT

Eat healthy AND get movin'! Check out more of the actual video here.

 

Think you know a friend who needs some reasons to join the CSA? Please consider sharing this article with them!

***Contributions by Nellie Stephenson + Ada Broussard