The DayDream Farmer celebrates Celebrate Community Supported Agriculture Week

WILTON, N.Y. >> Local business The DayDream Farmer is joining with other Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farmers across the country to celebrate CSA Week, a national event taking place from Feb. 20 to 26.

CSA is a farm membership system that allows consumers to sign up to receive a season’s worth of a farm’s products (veggies, eggs, meat, flowers, grain, etc.) over a number of weeks.

Along with getting to enjoy fresh, local food, being a CSA member is an excellent way for consumers to support and get to know their local farmers.

CSA Week is the most popular time of the year to signup for a CSA membership, like The DayDream Farmer’s Greens CSA and Pick-Your-Own Flower CSA. The Greens CSA gives members access to the local farm’s specialty lettuce mix of kale, spinach and chard. It costs $16 a week and is offered year-round. The Pick-Your-Own Flower CSA gives customers the benefit of having a flower garden without any of the work.

For eight weeks out of the summer, July through August, members can come harvest their own flowers, and creatively make their own bouquet, after an initial training in the flower beds on how to harvest correctly. Limited spots are available now. CSA members also get 15% off other seasonal produce at the farmstand. CSA pick-up is at The DayDream Farmer’s garden center location on Route 9 in Wilton, at the intersection of Ballard Road and Route 9 near exit 16.

When local residents sign up to become a CSA member, they can take comfort in knowing where and how their food was grown, and their financial support helps farmers prepare for the growing season.

“There has never been a better time to connect with fresh local food while helping to make our local food systems and communities more resilient,” a press release from The DayDream Farmer said. “There are so many local and regional small farmers who produce amazing nutrient dense food for the community. It can be hard to access their products because they’re not in the grocery store where the majority of people shop.

“Grocery stores are set up to purchase in large quantities from distributors who work with very large farms with contracts and high insurance coverage. Grocery stores are not structured to purchase smaller quantities from a vast number of small local farms. However, these small local farms are crucial for our long term food security. Their food is fresh and nutrient dense because it hasn’t traveled thousands of miles.

“When you purchase from a small farmer that money circulates back into the local community.”

Those who would like to participate in CSA Week can support The DayDream Farmer by signing up to become a CSA member, and use the hashtag #CSAWeek to join the online conversation.