Anyela's Vineyards...A winery and a CSA

I recently celebrated a birthday and to ring in a new year in my life as well as celebrate our early spring (or summer really), Ryan and I headed out to the beautiful and scenic lakeside community of Skaneatles.  We decided to do a little wine tasting at Anyela's Vineyards where we had been only once before to celebrate our good friends' wedding.  It is a gorgeous location with a barn-like tasting room and plenty of outdoor seating to soak up some sun and enjoy the bucolic views of the countryside and Skaneatles Lake.  So why am I including this in my blog about local eating?  Because besides being impressed with their amazing wine and unbelievable fruit and cheese spread, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that Anyela's runs a CSA!

If you're not familiar with the concept, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  This basically means you become a member and buy a share of the farm to help with the costs attributed to the farming process and in return you get a portion of the produce that is produced on the farm.  It's a symbiotic relationship between farmer and consumer, both sides benefit and as the consumer, you know you are supporting your local farmers in a big way in getting the freshest possible produce in return.

Anyela's CSA is great because they give you the option of purchasing a full season share, which gives you weekly produce from June 5 through October 16, or you can decide to purchase one session which is half of that time.  Session 1 runs from June 5 through August 7 and session 2 runs from August 14 through October 18.  This would work for people who are new to CSA's and aren't sure about committing to the full 20 weeks or for those who may do less cooking at home during the main summer months and pick up more home cuisine during the late summer and early fall.

Check out this spread! Cheese, fruit, crackers and bread, and best of all some amazing chocolate...delicious!

If you're interested in joining Anyela's Vineyards CSA, visit www.anyelasvineyards.com.  If not, please visit the winery to enjoy some great local wine, local views, and local eats...you won't be disappointed, I promise!