Starting at... Week 6

I was into it. Really sold. I wanted to be a workshare member of a Community Sponsored Agriculture (CSA) program. I found the one that was right up my alley... and chickened out.

I admit I romanticized the idea of being part of a CSA. The idea of pulling up fresh, multi-colored carrots and putting them right into my Little Bo Peep-esque woven basket before taking them home to whip up some culinary masterpiece... it gave me tingles. I realized that I was far off when I found myself in a mosquito and broken glass-infested strip of land near the farm's barbed wire fence, planting half-dead ornamental plants.

But that's not entirely fair. I wasn't a workshare at first, I was a volunteer at the farm. I wanted to be a workshare. Being a workshare member entailed working hours at the farm for a discounted weekly share of fresh fruits and vegetables. I had this huge desire to see the fruit of my labor (literally) in my communal share of food. This food was fresh, it was local, it was organic, it was everything I preached as an urban planner. The complete opposite of my hour and fifteen minute commute that I had committed every day for the past 3+ years. This is what I wanted to be a part of.

It just seemed a little above my means to shell out so much money (even at a discount) for a share of food, especially since it was just me and my mostly-carniverous husband, and I had just been laid off. I had starting looking around for a CSA to join in the dead of winter. I browsed a ton of CSA's and farms on the internet and found one that looked like it would work. Greensgrow farm was a block of reclaimed brownfield land, a mere 2 miles from Philadelphia's center city. Was this not an urban planner's dream? Furthermore, I really liked that they chose a place, not too far from ghetto status. What made the idea even more plausible is that they allowed volunteers, and during CSA pickup times there was a farmers market open to the public. I could volunteer my work and shop (somewhat frugally) at this market! I wanted to find out what was this farm doing for the neighborhood. What did the community think of the farm? What did the neighbors think of the roosters and chickens crowing in the wee hours of the morning? I had to find out.

I volunteered a few weeks, yes, planting half dead potted plants... But then I started weeding pepper beds, and clearing land for a hydroponic experiment, and harvesting pepper and leek shoots. It was hard work. Honest hard work. And productive (unlike sending out my resume for the umpteenth time). And then I heard a workshare spot opened up, and I got the promotion.