I’ve been a big fan of Pick a Little Farm since when they started doing the Bakersfield Farmer’s Market circuit about a year ago, as they always brought beautiful produce and grow interesting varieties.  They have had several versions of a CSA and a produce box for some time now, but I’ve never really looked into this as an option.  I love going to farmer’s markets, I like to pick and choose among the vendors, and I usually go with a plan for meals for the week.

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Well friends, it’s a new era of life, and the Pick a Little Farm produce box is now a part of it!  Farmer’s markets have closed around Bakersfield and have been closed for a few weeks now, and I’m finding it uncomfortable to be shopping around people even in the Santa Barbara farmers markets that are still open.  Chris and I are sheltering in place at my house instead of our usual long-distance arrangement of seeing each other only on the weekends, so that means more food is required as we need to feed both of us for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I can’t wander around the farmer’s market to buy a few tomatoes anymore – I need a lot of food that involves minimal human contact, ideally that supports my mission to eat fresh and local as much as possible and to support a farmer that I’m a fan of.

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Enter the Pick a Little Farm Produce Box.  For $40, I get a huge box full of whatever is in season.  We’re buying one every other week and it’s feeding two people, so I feel it’s worth the price to shop local.  The box is pre-ordered online with fun add-ins as they have them (Sourdough! Honey! Strawberries!), so it can be customizable.  I’m finding that the most fun aspect of the box is that I don’t get to pick what goes in it.  I get what’s available that week, and that’s super fun.  While the control freak in me was against that idea for the longest time, the creative side in me is enjoying the fun challenge of cooking a cabbage, a purple daikon radish, and finding fun dishes to make with all of those greens. 

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This farm box has really become my go-to every other weekend for a large chunk of shopping, eliminating the need to go to a normal grocery store for our produce, all while supporting local business as much as we can right now.  As much as I truly miss my weekend farmer’s market visits, I now get the whole market in a box every other week, and I think that’s a super fun thing.

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I know this is a solution that is working well for me where I live, but there are other options out there all across the country!  Check your local market’s website or social media pages to see if they have an order online option or CSA boxes through individual farmers.  There is still plenty of fresh produce out there, so go find it and use it!

Pictures from my last few boxes scattered around this post.