Which CSA Boxes Do I Choose And Why?

A look at our CSA box with many other goodies.

Arugula. I hate it. The bitter, peppery taste in salads offends me, and I detest the aftertaste. I feel like a cow chewing on grass every time I eat it. I’ll only tolerate it on very thin-crust pizzas with plenty of prosciutto to cover up the arugula. But even then, I prefer my pizzas and salads … Read more

What to do with your CSA box when you go on vacation?

Overhead shot of pumpkins with dried garlic and wood background

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go

I’ve been blasting Christmas carols all week. November might seem too early. Yet, with retailers already selling Christmas decorations, I think Christmas carols are fair game.

My rain-drenched shoes are another reminder that fall is coming to an end. Which means holiday seasons are around the corner!

Overhead shot of pumpkins with dried garlic and wood background. Stories from garlicdelight.com.
Festive pumpkins mark the beginning of the holiday seasons. What will you do with your CSA box when you’re on vacation?

With Thanksgiving as soon as next week, and Christmas following thereafter, I’ve given some thought to what will happen to my CSA boxes while I am out of town.

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How to choose and sign up for a CSA box

An aisle of peanut butter. Recipe from garlicdelight.com.

I remember taking my graduate student, ChoEun, to Ralph’s, my closest grocery store in downtown Los Angeles. It was one of our “culture” lessons.

I tutored international graduate students who needed a bit of help with English and integrating into American life.
(Ironic, isn’t it? Considering I am not American but was teaching others the American way of life.)

I guided her to the peanut butter aisle. On cue, she gasped.

“This is all peanut butter?” she asked.

“Yep, welcome to America. The land of free choice,” I replied.

I had the same experience myself only three years before.
When I first walked into the peanut butter aisle, fresh off the proverbial boat, I was shocked by the variety and choice of peanut butter in American grocery stores.

An aisle of peanut butter. Recipe from garlicdelight.com.

Crunchy or smooth. Salted or unsalted. Roasted or raw. Organic or 100% natural.

I knew there was nothing like this in South Korean supermarkets. Rows and rows of peanut butter. Every combination you can think of.

And similarly, when you first decide to sign up for a CSA box, you too will be hit with many choices. How do you choose a service?

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How to pick up your CSA box

The first time I asked Alex to pick up my CSA box with me, I planned it all wrong. It was exactly two years ago, on a cold, misty Friday night.

We drove deep into the suburbia where street names are vaguely related and yet juxtaposed with other references that make no sense. We drove past the Spanish cities of Aragon Boulevard, Seville Way, and Avila Road. Then we turned the corner and passed by some American universities of Georgetown Avenue, Notre Dame Avenue, Yale Drive, and Colgate Way. As you might be able to tell, we were lost in the suburban maze.

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