Lately, I’ve been falling asleep at night with visions of tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash and cantaloupe dancing in my head. No, I’m not thinking about planting my own garden—my tiny apartment complex doesn’t provide enough space to do my own planting. Instead, I belong to a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program that allows me to connect directly with local farmers. It works like this: Every week a farm truck comes to my neighborhood, and the farmers hand me a huge box of fresh, organic, home-grown produce. I hand them a $20 bill, we shake hands and everyone goes home happy.

The best part? Even though I don’t always get my favorite vegetables in every shipment, I am fully confident that everything I’m eating is safe. When grocery stores can’t sell tomatoes because a mega-farm somewhere accidentally shipped unsafe produce all over the world, you’ll find me in my kitchen making homemade salsa with my CSA tomatoes. If you’re unsure about the quality of your food, simply contact your provider and they will tell you if your vegetables are at risk.

If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you probably know that I love supporting local businesses in my neighborhood—even when it means paying a little extra for what I buy. So when I learned that I could eat locally by buying my food directly from a small farmer, I was instantly hooked. Sure, the health benefits of a CSA program are great—I’m forced to cook more than I eat at restaurants, and I receive so much produce that I have no other choice than to eat vegetarian from May through October. But more than that, I love knowing that my money goes directly into the hands of small farmers who need people like me to buy into their dreams.

My first CSA shipment will arrive May 3rd—until then, I’m preparing by scouring the Internet and old family recipes for new ways to cook, can and preserve peaches, strawberries, green beans, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and more. Any suggestions?