Some folks find it funny that I'm not a good gardener or a farmer. Yes, I am a "real" herbalist and yes I did grow up on a farm. But I'm more into wildcrafting herbs than growing them myself, and "farming" to my family was a monocrop gathered and planted by huge machines.

My green-thumb abilities or lack thereof aside, I like fresh organic produce (and herbs) just as well as the next tree-hugger. It's just that I've never been successful in growing them myself. I'm going to give it a go when we get to our new place in Cottonwood, but I have a plan B, too!

Have you heard of Community Supported Agriculture? (A quick nod to Daryl for clueing me in on this.) CSA is like buying "shares" in multiple organic farms. We non-growers give the farmers a certain amount of money on a quarterly or annual basis and they supply us with fresh food for the given time frame. The concept is quite simple. We get fresh food year round (if we so chose) that varies depending on what is in season. The farmers have a guaranteed income, allowing them to assume less risk and invest hard cash into improving or maintaining their crops. Win/Win, all the way!

You can find our more on the CSA website. Pick your state and get list of the farmers or farmer collectives that are participating in a program near you. I was lucky enough to find six organizations in Arizona. Nearest my new place is The Wolfberry Farm, an experimental agroecology farm dedicated to education, demonstration and research in conjunction with Prescott College.