deciding on which CSA
Posted by gardengirl on Oct 29, 2008 · Member since Jun 2006 · 229 posts
There are two CSA's in my area that I am thinking about joining. One is a large farm, 1000 shares according to the site, and any extra they grow they sell. The other appears to be a smaller farm with a 20 min driving distance to pick up the veggies (verus a 5 min drive time for pick up for the larger farm) but if they grow a bunch of tomatoes you spilt the extra tomatoes with other shareholders. The only issue with the farm that is farther away is that when I went and spoke with the farmer a few yrs ago he used horse manure to fertilize the soil. Any thoughts on that? The other farm might also, but I haven't looked into more to be sure.
i am sure they all use some kind of animal bi-product. i worked on a CSA farm last year and they used blood meal from the slaughterhouses mixed in with other stuff. yeah, gross, i know... but it's pretty much going to happen. also, the amount of bugs killed in just making veggies look presentable :o, even if unintentional.
anyway, i would personally go for the larger because 1.) easier to secure a share 2.) don't need to drive as far and i am sure the gas prices v. the small amount of price you will pay sometimes for extra veggies won't be bad. plus, you won't have as much fuel used to get from farm to table 8-)
yeah, I was leaning towards the larger one because the pick up was so close, and because it is at a winery too. But the other one requires you to work on the farm, and has hiking trails which I thought would be nice so that we could make at least an afternoon of it.
I had heard that some of the animal by products can get into the soil and then into the food, like what was happening with the spinach recall. My big worry is that they think the madcow disease isn't killed by composting, the plants could absorb it and then you ingest it when you eat the plant.
Thanks for you thoughts hespedal!
yuck! that's freaky!
i just am pretty sure we can't completely remove ourselves from that unless we grow all of our own food :-\
Yuk....however, if the horses are humanely treated, it's probably a good use of um...byrpdocuts. :o
I would go with the closer one. How lucky you are to have two choices!
My CSA's season is starting this Sunday and runs through May. They've said they are having bumper crops this years.
Interesting Tweety, do you belong to another one during the "summer" months or is it too warm there during that time?
I thought it was pretty yuk too, but I haven't heard too much about horses the way you hear about cows and sheep and what they are fed. Most horses here in the area seem to be pasture horses for personal use so they would be eating mostly hay and grasses.
Our new yard would be big enough to grow our own veggies, but with a 2 yo and the amt of shade we seem to get I don't think it would be a very good garden. I'll just support a farmer and have fun with my daughter.
Thanks again.
I am just popping in to say I am *jealous* of winter CSAs! I sooooo missed my CSA this summer (they stopped delivering to my farmer's market, and I couldn't commit to a 40 minute drive (one way) every other week to pick up. There are other options, but this spring was not the most organized time of my life-- I never got around to researching other farms so I let it go by the wayward. Next year!
WOO! Support your local CSA! The bigger farm sounds more convienent, but I have a soft spot for small farms.
Fertilizer is an essential part of growing veggies. Especially because most farmers come up with their own special mix rather than use the mass produced ten times worse sometimes pesticide filled kind. I'm mainly talking about Organic farmers here, but I'm sure other farmers do this as well. Bone meal and feather meal are sparingly used in the fertilizer mixture because it helps give the plants the nutrients they need. Also lots of liquid seaweed is used as well instead of pesticides. If the farmer uses "manure" they usually dry it out in the sun for months before using it as well. And manure should never be piled around fruit bearing plants, fresh or otherwise.
However, I am so biased because I grew up on an Organic farm (with a CSA btw) and grew up riding my little red wagon down piles of dried up chicken/feather fertilizer. LOL. SO I'm not easily squicked out by this stuff.
WOO! Support your local CSA! The bigger farm sounds more convienent, but I have a soft spot for small farms.
The small farm sounds so quiant and fun, but I know I will get tired of driving all the way down there, especially when it gets really hot and we won't be hiking or any of their other activities.
thanks also for you input on fertilizer. I thought it was pretty common, but wasn't sure if there was some information out there that I wasn't aware of that I should be.
Interesting Tweety, do you belong to another one during the "summer" months or is it too warm there during that time?
Thanks again.
I don't belong to one during the summer and not sure there is one. There are only two that are close enough to justify me being a member as I live in an urban area of over 2 million people on the west coast of Florida. I'm very fortunate. They also contract with other ogranic farmers in Florida and have a farmers market from November to May to coincide with their CSA distributions. I can't wait!!!
http://vegweb.com/gallery/albums/userpics/24730/normal_CSA_Nov__2008.JPG
Here's the first week's loot. Lots of green leafies which are a staple in myh diet.
Wow! That's awesome! I work in a food store that serves as a pick up for a local CSA, and people are not getting NEAR that much in their shares.
Wow tweety that is alot of food! I don't know if the three of us would be able to eat all that.
I decided to go with the CSA with the closer pick up. I looked at the location and the winery has musicians and other things going on at the same time as the pick up. So we could go there and spend the whole afternoon. We went down there on Saturday afternoon when it was 70 degrees here and it was so much fun and nothing was going on.
I am so excited, I can't wait until next spring!