Allen, Texas, residents are lucky to be surrounded by many local farms. That means your family has direct access to various fruits, vegetables, and meat grown near home. But how do you take advantage of this bounty? We recommend joining a CSA box program. If you’re not familiar with this outstanding opportunity, keep reading. Here’s everything you want to know about finding a CSA box, what it is, and why you want one for your family.
What Is a CSA Box
Brown Box With Green Leafy Vegetables by Kindel Media is licensed with Pexels License
CSA is an acronym that stands for Community Supported Agriculture. This program offers a terrific way to provide your family with local produce. A CSA subscription will give you a periodic box of seasonal fruits and vegetables. Depending on your membership terms, this pickup or delivery service can run weekly, biweekly, or monthly.
Benefits of Joining a CSA
Eating locally is good for our health and the environment. However, finding good quality produce at your corner grocery store isn’t always easy. That’s where a CSA membership comes in handy. When you make meals with seasonal and freshly harvested ingredients, your family and the community benefit in a variety of ways, including:
- It’s good for the environment: The food you eat travels a shorter distance to get to you and requires less energy to transport.
- You can save money: By buying food directly from a local farmer, as the veggies are usually priced below market because it costs less to produce and sell them.
- You’ll expand your palate: Each CSA box is a treasure trove of new fruits and vegetables to discover that will tempt your taste buds.
- It’s good to eat seasonally: In-season food is nutritionally dense and more flavorful than fruits and vegetables transported from distant fields.
- You’ll support farmers: Local farmers don’t have it easy, and by supporting local agriculture, you can help them stay afloat so they’re better able to feed our communities and care for the land.
CSA Box Programs Near Allen, Texas
Now that you know how valuable a CSA box is, it’s time to find one that works for your family. Here are a few CSA programs near Allen, Texas, where you can sign up for a subscription:
Fieldsong Farm
The Nubian dairy goats at Fieldsong Farm sure have it good. They live a slow, pampered life in tune with nature, and it shows in the quality of their sweet-tasting milk. The farmers here never use artificial hormones, and their delicious products are complemented by the farm’s outstanding events. Reserve a spot for afternoon tea to enjoy treats and unlimited tea. There is also a primitive campsite you can reserve. It’s a fantastic spot to spend the night immersed in a nature-filled experience close to home.
In addition to pasteurized milk, cheeses, cream, butter, fudge, and cajeta caramel, you can find organic herbs year-round, plus fruits and veggies like spinach, kale, carrots, onions, chard, radishes, and beets in your CSA box. They also grow hybrid and heirloom tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, pumpkins, okra, cucumbers, and squash. For fruits, count on Fieldsong to provide watermelons and cantaloupes off the vine, as well as elder and juniper tree berries, when in season. This farm recently started its CSA co-op, so if you’re interested in a weekly pickup, sign up today.
- Location: 1111 Snider Lane, Lucas.
Lewellen Farms
The Lewellen family established their farm in 2017 with the aim of growing produce that’s “beyond organic.” Its CSA members love this hyperlocal farm’s fruits and veggies like melons, pears, and apples. Thanks to its no-till techniques, it also produces some of the tastiest eggplants, Swiss chard, carrots, kale, and celery you’ve ever eaten.
You’ll also find other edibles in your CSA box, like garlic, tomatoes, figs, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, oyster mushrooms, and cabbage. These are the ideal fresh ingredients your family can use at home to make delicious meals, and if your kids want to help, consider enrolling them in a local cooking class. If you run out of goodies and can’t wait for your next box, you’ll also find Lewellen’s produce at the McKinney Farmers Market.
- Location: 4145 County Road 411, McKinney.
Reeves Family Farm
Since 2006, the Reeves family has managed their growing farmstead, adding nearly 50 acres to their holding over the years. Today, they fill their fields with sustainably-grown fruits, veggies, and pasture-raised livestock. In addition, this Good Agricultural Practices Certified organization uses only the best animal welfare practices on its farm, so you know the meat you purchase here was treated with compassion.
This farm still grows okra, its foundation crop, along with some new additions, like pumpkins, squash, beets, carrots, and various greens. They can also help you source other products you won’t find in the Reeves’ CSA box, like milk, honey, and cheese, thanks to their network of local producers.
- Location: 3577 FM 1377, Princeton.
Eat Your Greens Organic Farm
Eat Your Greens! is the brainchild of the Zuniga family. This direct-to-consumer farm boasts some of the area’s best-tasting and most nutritious microgreens, like broccoli, kale, arugula, cabbage, cress, pea shoots, wheat grass, purple sango radish, sunflower shoots, and wasabi, as well as freshly blended juices and eggs. The farm’s all-organic process takes advantage of 100% certified seeds, OMRI-rated soil, and pure water that’s always clean and devoid of bacteria and other pollutants.
What’s most interesting about these local agriculturalists is that they descend from a long line of farmers and botanists. Generations of Zunigas have cared for the land, and you can count on the current producers to grow premier-quality super greens that provide numerous health benefits. They aim to ensure that everyone in North Texas has access to healthy foods grown with sustainable farming and harvesting methods. Get a subscription box of either mild or spices greens and pick from 7-, 14-, 21-, or 28-ounce containers, depending on your needs.
- Location: 501 Cortes St., Krugerville.
Crème de la Crème of Allen, Texas, put together this guide to the best places to find a CSA box subscription near home. What does your family love best about supporting local agriculture? Let us know so we can share your thoughts with other Texas parents. Drop us a line today. We can’t wait to hear from you.