Local Farm Boxes
Our family has so enjoyed picking up carefully composed, GORGEOUS boxes of local vegetables, fruits, and other goodies (grits! eggs!) once a week from an assortment of local farms who have pioneered this model in the area. Instead of having to commit to an entire season of vegetables--the classic CSA model--Rooting Down Farms, Spade and Clover Gardens, GrowFood Carolina, and several others in Charleston County have stepped up efforts in the wake of the pandemic to push Certified South Carolina-grown produce directly toward people, box by box, at dropoff points in the city. This model fits our consumption and cooking habits better, since some weeks we aren't able to cook as much as others (and I HATE wasting good produce on the compost pile!). Farmers Markets are great, but our weekends are especially busy these days. And it totally satisfies our quest for novelty and fun (fresh SC-grown ginger! Meyer lemons!) in our cooking lives, while reducing the time we spend in the produce section of the supermarket. Oh my god, is it fresher--often picked the morning of the dropoff. Rooting Down has five pickup locations (Thursdays) throughout the region, including North Charleston and Mt. P, and Spade and Clover often uses Edmund's Oast Exchange, conveniently located on the upper peninsula, on Tuesdays.
Give all these folks a follow on Instagram, or join their mailing list, to be kept in the loop on what's available from week to week, and act fast once they post--some weeks they sell out within hours! @rootingdownfarms, @spadeandclover, @growfoodcarolina. The SC Department of Agriculture's site CertifiedSC.com has a feature that allows you to search for other delivery, on-farm pickup and CSA options county by county. @certifiedsc on Instagram.
Photos credits @spadeandclover above and @rootingdownfarms below