Green Door Gourmet Local Farm Box CSA- 08.27.16
On finding things that are uniquely local - i’m currently obsessed with the Green Door Gourmet in Nashville, TN - particularly their CSA Local Farm Box! Traditional CSA (community supported agriculture) models rely on customers to buy subscriptions for weekly boxes, pay up front, and essentially fund the farmers to buy seed, grow crops and do their thing. Super awesome, but terrible for people like me who have rather sporadic schedules and are terrible with planning.
While Green Door Gourmet has a traditional CSA option, they also have a limited number of “Flexible CSA model (Pack-Your-Own)” boxes! Which is awesome for those with crazy schedules or go through cooking bursts , commitment-phobes, and even travelers passing through! Sure you could go to a normal market or a farmer’s market, but there’s something so nice (and so much more delicious somehow) about popping by the farm, and picking deliciously fresh produce from the baskets. To join in, just get on their email list, and every week you get a message about what this week’s box includes, and you can place your order and prepay the $27 by Thurs to pick up Sat or Sun. They’ll happily explain what everything is to you, share recipes and tips, and tell you more about who, how, where they were grown and more.
Take a peek at how fun the Pack-Your-Own process is, as well as the amazing market/general store is on the next page!
First - some quick background from their site: “Welcome to Green Door Gourmet, a 350 acre organic farm, country store, and event venue in Nashville TN. Nestled along the Cumberland River in West Nashville, our farm fresh company is less than 10 miles from downtown and the Music City Center! We grow a wide variety of fruits, flowers, vegetables and herbs using holistic methods. Through our Local Farm Box program and our on-farm store, we provide our customers, including local restaurants and florists, with the absolute best direct-from-the-field produce. In addition to our own harvests, we co-operatively offer products from the area’s best local producers; including grass fed meats, honey, jams, dairy, baked goods, and much more! Our hand built white oak event barn is the perfect setting for weddings, corporate events, and social occasions. Our goal is to be your ultimate resource for farm to fork edibles, events, field trips for all ages, and agritourism.”
So once you sign up for their CSA Local Farm Box emails - you get messages like this one. And often closer to Thurs, there may be an update with something just added!
When your pick up day arrives - just grab your Local Farm Box Loyalty Card (free farm box after 10, and special discounts each week) and reusable bag and head out to Green Door Gourmet!
Only a few minutes outside of Nashville’s city center, it’s like you’re in a whole different world.
Head in to the Local Farm Box pick up area…
Sign in - and follow the signs! You work your way through taking up to the allotted amount (no need to take things you won’t eat!) - some tell you a number to take, some give you an option.
There’s something about the process that is so fun. Maybe it’s that you prepay, so you’re not really deciding what you want, how many, and how much it costs. Maybe it’s that you get to pick the specific produce while still ending up with a surprising assortment you may not have picked at a grocery store? Maybe it’s just the fun of seeing all the bushels of freshness before they are curated into a bag/box? It’s like shopping… but not quite. Less frenzy?
Anyhow - here’s a peek at some of this week’s produce!
Here’s what we came home with!
While there, it’s also hard not to browse and wander a little. They also have a Flower CSA that would be so tempting if we were local, or had a restaurant/hotel. Its stunning how many butterflies are constantly flitting about.
We even spotted one on the bunny hutch!
And of course, while there, you have to stop into the Green Door Gourmet Farm Store…
Since we first visited a few years ago for a friend’s wedding, every time we pop in they have more and more packed in there, and an impressive amount of local products as well as their own premade food and jarred goodness. There are also seeds, books, gifts, soaps, etc. in addition to produce, flowers, meat, milk, eggs, cheese, bread, spices… honestly just about anything you could need.
See? SO much good stuff packed into this lovely barn! In addition to the Farm Boxes and the Farm Shop - Green Door Gourmet is a gorgeous event venue (that has also popped up on tv shows and music videos and we first ended up here for a wedding) and they host a lot of field trips to teach kids about farming, food, and cooking!
But don’t forget - if you find yourself in Nashville, and with a kitchen - you’ve got to try one of their flex plan pack-your-own Farm Boxes!
Here’s what we got in ours two weeks ago…
… it was so delicious we keep going back for more.
