Sacramento's Best Weekly Fruit And Vegetable Boxes
Mom's mantra to eat your vegetables is so much easier to swallow when you sign up for a weekly vegetable box. They come direct, and organic, from the bountiful Yolo County to various locations in Sacramento and Davis.
Each box generally provides enough food for two to four persons of seasonal fruits and vegetables. The boxes cost $14 - $34, depending on the size, and can be changed to meet vacation schedules with advance notice.
These Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) enterprises provide year-round work for farmers and agriculture workers.
Full Belly Farm
16090 County Road 43
Guinda, CA
(530) 796-2214
http://fullbellyfarm.com/
Visit Full Belly Farm and the magnitude of the Capay Valley's fertile landscape are evident from acres of fruit trees and nut trees and crops. On over 300 acres a diversity of more than 80 crops are grown. Every season brings a host of different edible items to the wax-lined boxes that sell for as little as $16.00 a week. The new year's early months bring vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage and daikon and broccoli. Beets, leeks and cloves of garlic can be combined with potatoes and leeks. Spring's arrival is heralded with asparagus and fresh cut flowers.
Many third graders come to Full Belly Farm in the late spring for an overnight trip and camp out under the budding walnut trees. Part of their duties can include the packing of CSA boxes with seasonal items like lettuce, spinach and fennel.
Aside from vegetables; fruits like peaches, strawberries, apples and pomegranates are grown and placed in boxes throughout the year. CSA members can also order organic chickens and halves or whole lamb, in addition to hand-made wreaths and fresh herbs and dried chilies. Unsure what to do with anything in a CSA box? Check out the website's weekly recipes ranging from soup to pasta and vegetable entrees.
FBF delivers to four Sacramento, two Davis and other regional locations on Wednesdays in addition to a Saturday drop-off at Land Park.
Riverdog Farm
7587 County Road 49
Guinda, CA
(530) 796-4100
http://riverdogfarm.com
Come to Riverdog Farm and a friendly black Labrador snoozes lazily under a pick-up truck. That is the only area of inactivity. Head to the fields or processing barns and a host of people are in motion. Depending on the season curly edged kale, tomatoes and sweet carrots are among the organic vegetables being washed and packed.
Aside from supplying food to restaurants from the Bay Area to the Sierra foothills Riverdog Farm offers a huge variety of veggies and fruits to CSA members in the region. Each box has seven to nine ingredients and is delivered on Fridays to Sacramento and Davis.
A typical CSA winter box features the following:
1 bunch of carrots
1 bunch of Swiss Chard or kale
1 bunch of red or Chioggia beets
2-3 stalks of leek
3/4 lb of baby spinach or braising mix
1 1/2 lbs of yellow Finn potatoes
1 lb of broccoli or cauliflower
1 1/2 lbs of mandarins or navel oranges
Also at Riverdog Farms chickens hogs are CCOF certified organically raised animals. The latter is processed in a non-organic facility so it cannot be certified organic. It can be ordered by the pork share, which is a bulk case of chops, shoulder steaks, shoulder roast, ground pork, and sausages.
Terra Firma Farm
4713 Baker Road
Winters, CA
(530) 795-1112
http://www.terrafirmafarm.com
How many people are eating at your house? Terra Firma Farm has a veggie box, small, medium and large, to match any appetite. If you need more or less it is easy to change with a week's notice. Throughout the year TFF delivers to Sacramento and Davis on Fridays.
Items like beets and cooking greens are included in winter boxes while the summer offerings flourish with fragrant basil, sweet corn, peas and bell peppers. Strawberries are a springtime favorite.
