I'm thinking of joining a CSA.....
Posted by lubimiller on Feb 05, 2009 · Member since Mar 2008 · 3602 posts
anybody have feedback on their experience? was it worth the money? Did you have too much, not enough, etc??
The World's Largest Collection of Vegetarian Recipes
Canadian Space Agency? Casting Society of America?
haha....no
community supportive agriculture
I have no personal experience with a CSA but I think it would be worth it. I don't think it's possible to get too much because fruits and vegetables freeze so easily. The only concern I would have would be if the supply also included meat, eggs, or dairy as they sometimes do.
If you want to discuss the Canadian Space Agency though, hit me up.
No experience but I'm thinking about it too! There's a great link over on the raw chit-chat thread I used to find ones in my area.
I dont quite know what that is.. but..
agriculture <3<3<3<3<3<3<3
I've been a member of a CSA for quite a while now and I love it! It forces you to be eat and cook with stuff you might not normally get at the store, but since I'm not picky that's what I love about it. It also really puts you in tune with the seasons...I never really the true seasonal availability of most produce because it's been available year round at the grocery store my whole life. I think it depends, costs wise, but I calculated mine out and it cost about $30/wk for a Family Share which is the biggest size you can get. They also have a Singles and a Couples share, but even though there are only 2 of us, I always got the Family share and we didn't really have a problem eating it all. For the amount of produce you got, the price was a little high compared to what you might pay just going to the regular grocery store, but I felt it was worth it to pay a little extra because the majority of the items were organic (not certified, but nonetheless) and I felt it was worth it to support the community. Mine's actually a little unique in that it is not a CSA per say, because the one I get mine from is not actually a farm itself. Instead the guy that runs it works with many small, family owned Mennonite farms in a nearby town to get the produce. The nice thing about this arrangement is that the variety we get is amazing, since you're pulling from many farms instead of what is grown on just one. I say do it! Let me know if you have any questions.
I've been a member of a CSA for quite a while now and I love it! It forces you to be eat and cook with stuff you might not normally get at the store, but since I'm not picky that's what I love about it. It also really puts you in tune with the seasons...I never really the true seasonal availability of most produce because it's been available year round at the grocery store my whole life. I think it depends, costs wise, but I calculated mine out and it cost about $30/wk for a Family Share which is the biggest size you can get. They also have a Singles and a Couples share, but even though there are only 2 of us, I always got the Family share and we didn't really have a problem eating it all. For the amount of produce you got, the price was a little high compared to what you might pay just going to the regular grocery store, but I felt it was worth it to pay a little extra because the majority of the items were organic (not certified, but nonetheless) and I felt it was worth it to support the community. Mine's actually a little unique in that it is not a CSA per say, because the one I get mine from is not actually a farm itself. Instead the guy that runs it works with many small, family owned Mennonite farms in a nearby town to get the produce. The nice thing about this arrangement is that the variety we get is amazing, since you're pulling from many farms instead of what is grown on just one. I say do it! Let me know if you have any questions.
I'm pretty sure I'm gonna do it. Do you freeze things you don't eat, and if so, have you found that certain things don't freeze well?
CSAs are AWESOME!
I have never been on the receiving end of a CSA (since I live on an Organic Farm), but I have lots of experience from the farmer's point of view. I have been helping with all aspects of our CSA for at least the past 7 years.
So if you have any questions that you think I could help you with, fire away!
Also, if you are looking for local farms around you to buy produce from or to find a CSA you can check out FarmFoody.com. It's like a social networking site for farmers and regular people looking for farms nearby.
I've been a member of a CSA for quite a while now and I love it! It forces you to be eat and cook with stuff you might not normally get at the store, but since I'm not picky that's what I love about it. It also really puts you in tune with the seasons...I never really the true seasonal availability of most produce because it's been available year round at the grocery store my whole life. I think it depends, costs wise, but I calculated mine out and it cost about $30/wk for a Family Share which is the biggest size you can get. They also have a Singles and a Couples share, but even though there are only 2 of us, I always got the Family share and we didn't really have a problem eating it all. For the amount of produce you got, the price was a little high compared to what you might pay just going to the regular grocery store, but I felt it was worth it to pay a little extra because the majority of the items were organic (not certified, but nonetheless) and I felt it was worth it to support the community. Mine's actually a little unique in that it is not a CSA per say, because the one I get mine from is not actually a farm itself. Instead the guy that runs it works with many small, family owned Mennonite farms in a nearby town to get the produce. The nice thing about this arrangement is that the variety we get is amazing, since you're pulling from many farms instead of what is grown on just one. I say do it! Let me know if you have any questions.
I'm pretty sure I'm gonna do it. Do you freeze things you don't eat, and if so, have you found that certain things don't freeze well?
I really never froze a whole lot, I think the only time I froze anything was when I went on vacation last summer. I froze some radish greens, snow peas (didn't freeze too well-almost got that nasty canned pea taste-in fact they are still in the freezer cause I can't figure out what to use them in to disguise the slightly off taste), green onions. I think that was about it. I live in Virginia so I get A LOT of apples in my share. I made applesauce quite a bit and even canned it one time, so that's a thought for preservation as well. OH, and I did dehydrate some tomatoes for when we got a ton of those. Defnitely get those Debbie Myer Green bags for produce, they really do seem to work!
I really never froze a whole lot, I think the only time I froze anything was when I went on vacation last summer. I froze some radish greens, snow peas (didn't freeze too well-almost got that nasty canned pea taste-in fact they are still in the freezer cause I can't figure out what to use them in to disguise the slightly off taste)
Samosas!
(I had a thread asking for help on using up nasty canned veggies, but I can't find it now. But the general recommendation was all sorts of Indian food, since the spices are so pungent. I made palak tofu with canned spinach and samosas with canned peas. They were both awesome!)
I was a member of an organic produce group. It was kind of csa-ish in that it bought from local farmers whenever possible. I got a laundry basket stuffed with organic produce for $20. There were two things I liked about it. One, it was a really good deal, $ wise. The other was that I wasn't in complete control of what I got, so I ate a larger variety of produce than I normally would have.
I stopped going when gas prices got to be $4.90 a gallon (they were a ways from me) and then when prices dropped I never started back up again. Part of it was the narrow window of time to pick up the produce.
Another co-op I almost joined had your share delivered to a drop-off point. In my case, it was a local business, and we could go there to pick it up.
I think csa's are fabulous. I'd love to join one.
I just started looking into this again and I think I'm gonna try it for the 2009-2010 season. "Here in South Florida, our season lasts about 5 months from approximately mid-November through mid-April. . ." I've just added my contact info to their waiting list!!
Also, does anyone else's CSA do fruit?? This one doesn't....
I'm doing a CSA for the first time and it starts this week! I'm very excited. I'm sharing it with my roommate and her boyfriend, so we pay $200 each for the season. That works out to about $16.50 a week, which seems pretty good. I know that it's going to make me eat a lot more vegetables so that's awesome. I can't wait until Thursday!
This is my first year with a CSA box.
We haven't started recieving ours yet. I purchased a half share (since it's just me) for $150 and I think she said it's for 20 weeks.
I have no idea how much food this will be or anything. I am excited and I hope that I know what to do with the things I normally don't consume... I am not going to want to waste anything.
I think you should go for it, at least once! ;)
I wanted to join a CSA this year SO bad but no one that I know of around here offers half-shares. Since it would be just for me I was afraid there was no way I could eat that much every week. :'( I still might join over the summer.