Eating local = eating fresh

Community supported agriculture (CSA) is growing in Huntsville. This spring, Eat Local Muskoka launched a local food box program that provides supporters with a bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The CSA model is a simple one and the rewards can be plentiful. It works like this: first you buy a share of the coming season’s crops, then you pick up a weekly box of seasonal, just-picked (often the same day) goodness. You’re investing in the farmers when they need it most – at the beginning of the growing season – and in return get a portion of the harvest.

“It’s the most farm-supportive way of buying vegetables,” says Eat Local Muskoka farmer Colin Sober-Williams. “Farmers get money up front so they can purchase capital equipment and they ensure lots of bounty in return throughout season.”

Eat Local Muskoka follows a 100-mile sourcing rule – six of the eight farms are in Muskoka, but they also source from two farms in Kawartha Lakes to provide produce earlier in the spring and later in the fall while ensuring none of it travels farther than 100 miles.

“We prioritize the things we can grow in Muskoka and then go out to our friends in Kawartha Lakes from there.”

There’s a lot of Lots of diversity in each box, including some varieties that you may not be familiar with like kohlrabi or haskap berries. “We try to make it fun and include some funky vegetables that people haven’t seen before,” says Sober-Williams. “And we include recipes in our newsletter so that people know what to do with them.”

The bounty from Eat Local Muskoka includes a variety of familiar and not-so-familiar produce including haskap berries (bottom right). (Photos at left and upper right courtesy of Eat Local Muskoka)

Eat Local Muskoka has also secured one of the community garden plots in River Mill Park so that their CSA members and families can get their hands dirty.

We are trying to engage the community and help them understand why it’s important to have a local, sustainable food source. There is a huge food security gap here.Colin Sober-Williams

Eat Local Muskoka provides seasonal produce from local farms and also has a community garden plot to engage members in growing local food. (Photos: Eat Local Muskoka)

Sober-Williams completed a sustainable agriculture program at Fleming College and stayed on for two years afterward as a program technician. He’s joined in Eat Local Muskoka by Four Season Greens in Port Sydney, Golden Harvest Farms in Kawartha Lakes, Grenville Farms in Severn Bridge, Lunar Rhythm Gardens in Kawartha Lakes, Rowanwood Farm in Huntsville, Santosha Farm in Sprucedale, and Table Top Farm in Baysville.

Eat Local Muskoka members pick up their weekly food boxes behind The Great Vine

The group’s local food box program currently runs from May through October with spring, summer (starting July 7), fall and full season options. Sober-Williams is also considering a winter CSA program.

“You’d be amazed what you can still grow in the winter just with one layer of plastic – without heat you can grow greens year-round. You plant in September and they grow to be full-sized and when light levels drop they will hold all winter in an unheated hoop house for harvesting on warmer days. Fall carrots and winter spinach are two of my favourites because they get so sweet – frost causes the plants to put their energy into natural antifreeze and they produce a lot more sugars.”

The winter CSA would include mostly root vegetables but also freshly harvested spinach, mustard greens, and kale.

Growing and harvesting year-round would solve the problem of what a Muskoka farmer should do in the winter, and allows Sober-Williams to be doing what he loves all the time. “It’s very rewarding. I like being outside, I like cooking, and I like feeding people. And Muskoka is where I like to live – it’s where my roots are.”

For more information visit eatlocalmuskoka.ca.

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