Ballard's Salish Sea Trading Co-op ended its 2011 Community Supported Agriculture season last week with a purchase from Mayor Mike McGinn.

Salish Sea Trading Cooperative, a Ballard non-profit, relies on wind and tide to transport locally produced goods around Puget Sound by sailboat. Their goals are to conserve precious energy resources and re-introduce the idea of sail as everyday transport.

In the spirit of energy conservation, McGinn rode his bike for his vegetable pick-up at Ballard's Aster Coffee Lounge.

The company’s primary program is the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) vegetable box subscription. People can buy a box of organic vegetables from Dharma Ridge Farm on the Olympic Peninsula to support local farmers and the development of sail-based transport. The goods are transported by sailboat to Ballard, where people can pick up their produce.

“From June to November, our six volunteer sailboats sail from Ballard to Port Ludlow, pick up local goods, and sail them back to Ballard,” explained Managing Partner Kathy Pelish.

Salish Sea Trading Co-op also sails over Finnriver cider to Ballard merchants like Aster Coffee Lounge and Savour, and on their latest trip , they transported Theo Chocolate from Fremont to the Port Townsend Food Co-op.

“In the face of increasing energy prices, our co-op is revitalizing sail and working in partnership with others to Buy Local and relocalize our economies,” Pelish said. “The wind and tide are free. We've met with the Coast Guard and have their OK.”