CSA: Not Just for Veggies
When you say "Community Supported Agriculture" - people think of fresh veggies from the farm - like the Jones Farm CSA here in Chelmsford. But there are other kinds of CSAs. I belong to a CSA where the product is wool yarn and fiber. It's Foxfire Fiber at Springdelle Farm in Shelburne, MA. They have a flock of about 80 sheep, from which they produce high quality yarn and fiber for spinning (see the accompanying photos to see samples). The yarn/fiber is distributed through the CSA, at various shows, and online.
This past weekend, they held the annual "Strolling of the Lambs" where members of the CSA get to visit the farm, take a tour, and see the new lambs and their mothers. In addition to the adorable lambs, three of my favorite creatures at the farm are the llamas. They are guard llamas -- watching over and protecting the flock. [One of the llamas was a rescue llama -- read more about his story here.] For more pictures, see my blog.
CSAs are a great way of supporting and maintaining small, local farms -- and they're not just for veggies!
Kristy Medina
9:13 am on Monday, June 6, 2011
Wow! Thank you for sharing this, I'm going to check them out.
Vivian Merrill
9:21 am on Wednesday, June 8, 2011
A rescue llama! I love it!
Ed Turner
12:30 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
So true. There used to be egg/chicken farms, dairy, and others. Many are gone. We are trying to revitalize agriculture and farm in what we call. "Micro Farming". The use of as much owned land put to use in supporting local grown food, fruit, flowers, and plants. So far we have been successful as a start up providing for farmers markets. Our just approved farm stand is by far not so well this year but we do not intend to give this first try a stop failed grade as of yet. I want to bring up too that though there are CSA farms it is hard to tell what is local and chemical free grown. I would like to know how I can start a discussion of such issues i here but I do not see where or how it's done.