Lon and I love the concept of a CSA, community supported agriculture. I want to have a relationship with my farmer, where I show loyalty to them and they take special care to ensure that I get fresh and delicious food. But, call me a control freak, I’ve never been able to get over the hump of joining because I need to pick my own food. Getting the mystery basket would be fun for 2 weeks, and then I’d want my choices back. I also like to take little trips in the summer, but you can’t when you’re tied to a pick-up day and time, every single week.
Last weekend, I met Jurrien Swarts, who seemed to answer my prayers. He and his cousin, Seth Holton, are eighth generation farmers, now taking over Holton Farms for Seth’s father. They have big and crazy ideas, and I love them!
Jurrien Swarts
Their CSA Select program allows customizable on-line ordering. Yes! You pick what you want and which weeks you want. So flexible. Drop-offs all over NYC (see map) start on May 17th, and Jurrien has offered all FoodMayhem readers an extra 5% off on top of the already discounted prices. Sign-up with code HFFMAYHEM
Seth Holton
It get’s better. It’s not just vegetables. You can get organic meats, and dairy is being added soon, as well as some prepared foods. Jurrien and I were just chatting away and I was “eating” it all up. I even invited myself up for a weekend retreat at his farm in June. We’re planning some video of this city girl in a new setting so stay tuned for me looking…uh, out of my element.
Just so you know: I have not yet tried any of the food, but I am receiving a free trial CSA when it starts, and I will definitely be giving my honest feedback. I don’t have any formal relationship with Jurrien for helping him promote his CSA. I am truly excited by his ideas for the future and he’s just a cool guy. I told him about The Nourishing Kitchen of NYC, and he immediately offered them food. They are working on a composting program with City Harvest, and he’s holding down a finance job until he can make his family farm profitable. He also happens to live in Long Island City so Woot!
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Oh my goodness, his ideas sound fantastic. I wish we lived in New York! My hubby and I were talking about how a good CSA would offer meats, dairy, and eggs. It would be great if it were flexible too! I hate having to make sure someone is there to pick things up on our CSA day. Sigh, I can only hope this catches on here.
Thanks so much for getting the word out about Holton Farms! I’ve been weighing my options about joining a CSA this year, but held back because of the lack of control you mentioned. I’d love to join them this year, so thanks again!
Alessa, my thoughts exactly, and then here they are. Hope it spreads to you!
Talida, I’m working at putting together a group of buyers in LIC so we can have a drop-off here.
Oh wow, this is right up my alley! That sounds AMAZING. I can’t wait till you try the food, I bet it’s great! I love that it’s so tight-knit and family run….that’s really wonderful in this day. The flexibility is fantastic, too!
What a great plan!
You know Jessica, when I was a kid all food was organic…how old does that make me?!!!!
We recently enjoyed organic goodies from Abel & Cole …there were some odd shaped fruit & veggies in the box, (no designer stuff) & it tasted just fine! So good luck to Holton Farms!
Lesley, my mom says similar things, and I also hear about different pockets in other countries where everything is still organic. Hopefully, we’ll get there.