Larry King and his sister-in-law, Kathy King, show a sample of the onions they grow at Harvest Valley Farms, their family farm in Middlesex Township. The Kings offer a community-supported agriculture program, or CSA, which allows customers who "subscribe" to pick out and pick up their produce weekly.

Summertime for veggie lovers promises more than a few salads and ears of sweet corn. For some county residents, summer promises farm-fresh produce every week.

Some opted to buy produce from farms via community-supported agriculture programs or CSAs.

A CSA is a program through which customers, or subscribers, pay a membership fee that covers typically 24 weeks from June to November and pick up a box or crate of produce each week.

Many CSA farmers drop off members' filled crates at drop-off sites or members pick up their crates at the farm.

The King family at Harvest Valley Farms in Middlesex Township has been running their CSA since 1999. They allow subscribers to pick up their produce at the farm or at one of six drop-off sites in the Pittsburgh area. The farm is run by siblings Art and Larry King and Norma McAfee and their families.

Kathy King said interest is peaking as more emphasis is placed on buying locally and fresh. Harvest Valley has 300 subscribers.

Ken and Cathy Metrick of Metrick's Harvest View Farm and Market in Connoquenessing Township are taking the leap this year and adding a CSA to their farm and farm market business.

"There's a big push for people to buy local. Knowing the people that raise it and how it's handled means a lot more to people," Ken Metrick said.

The Metricks and the Kings agree that they must keep up with the trends in farming to be successful, and CSAs seem to work.

Ken Metrick said his family's CSA will probably provide strawberries, zucchini, eggs, cheese, lettuce, spinach and peas the first couple weeks to their roughly 20 subscribers.

The first few weeks of CSA produce at Harvest Valley will include spring mix, spinach, asparagus, red beets, carrots and kohlrabi, a small cabbage like vegetable.

Because the typical growing season for many vegetables limits the selection subscribers receive during the first few weeks of a CSA, farmers find alternate ways of growing their vegetables.

High tunnels are used. Larry King said some of their high tunnels are designed with raised beds under which warm water is pumped. The combination of warm water, a plastic roof and walls, and timed watering allows vegetables such as onions, spring mix, red beets and carrots to flourish as early as late May.

The Metricks also use high tunnels. However, a wind storm this year caused heavy damage to their tunnels.

A number of subscribers go to Harvest Valley Farms to pick up their crate and go. McAfee said children enjoy pick-up days because of the many farm animals they can play with including goats, hens, roosters and miniature horses.

She said CSA subscribers "get different veggies every week and are forced to try something new."

The newsletter Harvest Valley sends each week includes information on vegetables and recipes for vegetables.

Metrick also provides an e-mail newsletter for subscribers that includes ideas and recipes.

"Maybe nobody knows how to fix swiss chard. We'll include a recipe for it," Metrick said.