Fall 2009 CSA Deliveries

[Update:  In 2009, the boxes were $25 each.  Effective January 2010, the boxes are $30 each.  The post has been edited to reflect the price change.]

Tanaka Farms will deliver Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) produce boxes each Thursday afternoon to Neighborhood Grinds in North Redondo Beach starting on September 24, 2009. 

Each box will contain organically grown (but not necessarily certified organic) produce from local farms around southern California-mainly from Tanaka Farms of Irvine. The retail value of produce in each box will be $25 $30. Subscribers select the weeks that they would like boxes and pay $25 $30/box in advance. There is no minimum order. Try it once and then sign up for more later!

Madison PTA sends $20 $25 to Tanaka Farms and keeps $5 to help support programs at nearby Madison Elementary School. This community-building fundraiser promotes healthy eating habits and helps support local organic agriculture. It's a win-win for everyone.

Neighborhood Grinds is conveniently located at 2315 Artesia Boulevard (cross-street Mackay). Subscriber boxes can be picked up anytime between 2:00 until 10:00 PM on delivery days (currently Thursdays). Just sign the subscriber sheet at the counter to confirm pick-up, and a NG staffer will hand you a box of produce. Tanaka Farms' sturdy waxed cardboard boxes do need to be returned. Please bring your own box, bag or bin to carry your produce home. NG staff will fold up the TF box and return it for you.

Send email to madisonschoolcsa@gmail.com to request a sign-up sheet in electronic format. (Update: you can now download the form here.)  Return the form and your check made payable to Madison PTA to the Madison School Office (families with children attending Madison) or Neighborhood Grinds (community members without children attending Madison).

FAQ

• Learn more about Tanaka Farms' CSA program.
• Subscribers do not get a choice of produce. The boxes contain produce in season in our local area. Basically, they consist of whatever is ready to be harvested at the farm on the morning of the delivery, supplemented with specialty produce (e.g. stone fruit from the central valley).
• The produce will contain varieties not commonly found at supermarkets. That's the whole point.
• We will provide recipe support at this blog. What do you do with the red cabbage and the apples in the winter boxes? Make braised red cabbage with apples, of course!