Two-hundred Tomatoes

A few weeks ago I ordered a bushel of tomatoes from Dillner Family Farm, and I received way more tomatoes than I expected.  There were over two-hundred Roma tomatoes (I wish I took pictures of the boxes).  So Mark and I spent six hours peeling, removing seeds and cooking down the tomatoes for pasta sauce, tomato soup and curry.  Although it was a lot of effort the pasta sauce we made turned out fantastic!  We added some ground beef and pork italian sausage from Burns Angus Farm, as well as some onions and garlic from Dillner Family Farm.  A little Italian herb mix from Penzey's and a few bay leaves gave it some extra Italian flavor.  I will definitely plan to do it again next year!

Visiting my CSA farm

Yesterday I went on a tour of Dillner Family Farm, where I am getting my CSA from.  It was a great experience, and definitely worth the drive through a monsoon to get there!  The Dillner family farms 122 acres surrounding their house, and they do it all just with help from family.  I was really impressed that just a few people could do so much work on so much land.  It was also really neat to learn a little about their farming techniques, such as using high wind tunnels to extend the growing season.  They also use ladybugs for pest management, and bumblebees to pollinate the crops.  The Dillner family seemed like a very content, hard-working, caring, happy group.  I'm glad to know my food will be coming from such a nice place!

The CSA selection

I investigated my options and I decided to get my CSA from Dillner Family Farm.  There were tons of great options in the Pittsburgh area, and my main criteria were location of the drop-off point, cost, and whether the farm minimizes the use of pesticides and fertilizer.  With the last criteria it was tough to decide between organic and non-organic farms but I read quite a bit about how the "organic" certification can be difficult for small farmers to get because there is a lot of cost and paperwork associated with the certification itself.  I like that although Dillner Family Farm is not certified organic they use sustainable farming methods.  

Here's the farm website:

Dillner Family Farm http://www.dillnerfamilyfarm.com

what's a CSA??

So what is a CSA?  According to the USDA website (http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml):

Community Supported Agriculture consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community's farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Typically, members or "share-holders" of the farm or garden pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer's salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm's bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land and participating directly in food production. Members also share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests. By direct sales to community members, who have provided the farmer with working capital in advance, growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing.

There are plenty of resources for finding a CSA or other local food near you.  A great website for nationwide local farm resources is:


Local Harvest
http://www.localharvest.org/


For Pittsburgh locals:


Grow Pittsburgh
http://www.growpittsburgh.org/