HighCross Farm

HighCross Farm was our choice for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscription this summer. By subscribing to a CSA, we paid up front for 20 weekly shipments of organic produce. The food goes straight from the ground to my table with no middlemen or processing or storage. And our money goes straight to the family growing my food and I get the freshest produce of anyone I know. It's totally a win-win situation.The farm is just an hour North from Milwaukee near Kettle Moraine State Park. Every Thursday they harvest and ship whichever crops are ripe and ready. These are sent to 23 designated pick-up locations (half in Milwaukee, half rural sites). For all the details of the 2011 share check here:http://www.highcrossfarm.com/csa-2011.htmlAfter reading all this you might think we're some sort of foodie fanatics. There has to be some sort of catch, right? Clearly we must be paying an arm and a leg by wastefully supporting some kind of hippie farmer charity cult. WRONG. We went in with a neighboring family to split a full share of weekly groceries. Our out-of-pocket cost is less than $16 per week. Way cheaper than buying this stuff at Pick-n-Save. But it's organic. Oh, and it's locally sourced.It turns out that another subscriber has even started a cooking web diary, so we should see some of the CSA produce appearing in recipes at http://sarahnett.wordpress.com/ as the summer wears on.I waited for our first delivery to write this review, but as expected the contents of our bushel box looked and tasted amazing. Already we are staring at baby bok choy, a tomato plant, scallions, Swiss chard, fresh strawberries, mizuna, two(!) kinds of kale, lettuce, oregano, arugula, sage and more.I urge you to sign up for this CSA or one like it. You'll be doing good works with little effort by voting with your pocketbook. And also Thursdays will suddenly become the best day of the week!

We chose HighCross Farm for our CSA because they delivered to a household in our village and offered smaller shares weekly. For 20 weeks out of the summer and fall, we receive the freshest, cleanest and prettiest vegetables, fruit and herbs that we simply have to pick up at a local neighbor's house. We also receive an emailed newsletter soon after delivery with news, recipes and storage tips. A friend had complained that her CSA only delivered a small variety of items that she got over and over but the Vogelmanns ensure there is a variety of items throughout the season, so it's always a surprise. A typical box may include a fresh bundle of greens (lettuce, spinach, etc), beets, rhubarb, potatoes, carrots, peppers, onions and always a cutting of herbs (that's one example box--they shake it up through the season as different items come in). The first year we belonged, they sent along a variety of Asian greens, so we had a fun time exploring ways to use these unfamiliar vegetables. Having a CSA delivery is a bit of a time commitment. You really need to like to cook--these are not "convenience foods." That caveat has nothing to do with the Vogelmann's business. They try to forecast what we might receive the next week, but they can't always be right on target so each week is a new culinary adventure. Especially in early summer, a cold snap could screw everything up. Typically on a Thursday afternoon we pick up the box, then I unpack, wrap, and sometimes process some of the vegetables as well as look up recipes and plan meals. Make sure you have freezer space--you can blanch or sometimes just chop up some of the items and freeze them for later. There is nothing better than pulling out summer vegetables in the middle of a dreary winter.The cost for our small share is $26 a week, a pittance for organically-grown vegetables and fruits and for the education my 13 year-old son is getting about the crops that are grown in Wisconsin and the taste of fresh-from-the-ground produce. This year my son begged me to get the "farmer box" again. We are so pleased to support a local farm and to eat the best of the season.I am entirely impressed with the Vogelmann's operation, their commitment to organic produce and their customers, and their love of what they do. I have not had one hitch yet and we're on our third year this summer.