March or April is the best time to sign up if you want a produce subscription via a community supported agriculture program (CSA), but some farms might still have subscriptions available.  Carnegie Library produced a couple of articles which highlight CSAs in the Pittburgh area: How to pick a CSA plan that will suit you and  Find a CSA Farm. For more information, here’s a list of local farms that offer CSAs, and here’s an article from the Post-Gazette explaining about how they work.

For those who don’t sign up with a CSA — the farmer’s markets are now open for the season.  Today the Post-Gazette published an interactive map of all the farmer’s markets in and around the city.  Closest to Polish Hill, the Bloomfield (Citiparks) Farmers Market is held in the parking lot of St. Maria Goretti (former Immaculate Conception) school, just off of Liberty Avenue near West Penn Hospital.  The market is open on Thursdays from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m.

And in the Strip, Farmers@Firehouse, at 2216 Penn Ave, is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and sells mostly organic and naturally grown produce, local meat and poultry, with chef demos weekly.  Also in the Strip is the Pittsburgh Public Market, open year round with produce, meats, cheese, East End Brewing, and many wonderful food stalls.

(Above:  Farmers @Firehouse, from Taste of Pittsburgh)