Should I join a CSA?

[Norasmomma]

I just read that a local farm is starting a CSA in July, the cost for a 2 person share is $15 a week, I know this farm has wonderful produce as I purchased fruit from them at the farmer's market. We have 2 adults and one toddler who loves veggies and fruit, so I'm not sure that the amount would suffice. Also I do love to go to our farmer's market we have one of the best in WA, so I also am debating that. I am not going to get the garden going this year, so do those of you who do this think it's a good idea? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[MomToKandE]

One thing I love about our CSA is that it's gotten me to try lots of things that I never would have purchased otherwise. If you like to experiment with new things this is great. I was a little unsure at first but between me and google I now know I can find a way to prepare just about anything so that my family will like it.

[zersha]

If you don't think $15 worth of produce is enough, and you love to go to the farmers market, why not do both? Then you get the best of both worlds.

$15 a week sounds good to me for fresh local produce. I would do it in a heartbeat. Our closest CSA is about 100 miles away, so weekly trips are out of the question.

We do at least have farmers markets though.

[avent]

Are they going to deliver to a porch where everyone picks up? If so you might want to consider volunteering to be that house. We do that and get our subscription for free.

[ChattyCat]

When I was in WA, we had a half share of a CSA, and it was SO MUCH food! We paid I think about $300 for the summer. It was awesome. I tried things that I had never had like rhubarb, and really learned to love things that I already sort of liked. If there were a CSA here, I would join in a heartbeat.

[dillonandmarasmom]

Our CSA box has more than enough for us. We get to try out new recipes, and if I don't feel up to the task, stir fry is always an option.
For us, our CSA rarely delivers fruit, so the veggies tend to last beyond the week, while we make a trip to the farmer's market or local produce stands to get our fruit fix.

Can you go online to check out a list of their seasonal crops? That's a deal-maker/breaker for us. If they offer things you know you'll love, go for it. Fresh and organic for $15 is a steal!

[Norasmomma]

Well I know for a fact that they grow cherries, peaches(OMG the best), apples, and they had a huge pumpkin patch last year. The farm is about an hour away from me where the weather is *slightly* warmer. The farm has been organic for awhile now(maybe always, not sure). I know the family and the son took over the farm a few years ago, I see him and his family at the farmer's market. Their produce is really wonderful, I think that they would have pretty much everything and it all would be good, especially those peaches.I think that we are going to do it, especially since I will not have a garden of my own again this year.

[KingstonMama]

I think that sounds like a pretty good deal. We live in WA too, and our csa costs $360 for weekly drops mid May thru end of Sept. We get a big bag of veggies/fruits/flowers. This is our first year doing it, I'm so stoked!

[m0dernist]

We love our CSA - we are working members so get a discount on our membership (and any extras!). Time is 1 morning a week for 4 months in the summer/fall with one week off a month.

Our CSA partners w/ a grass fed beef ranch, local honey grower, and fruit farms. They also do chickens and eggs for additional cost and offer winter shares which consist of cold frame veggies (the best leeks ever!) while available and stored veggies from the summer (cabbage, potatoes, onions, beets, etc.) Last, but not least, members have the option for pick-yourself strawberries, asparagus, chilies, tomatoes, and any crops above the quota to provide to members at harvest festival.

All-in-all we fork over a reasonable sum every year, but get great organic produce year round and take advantage of the ability to pick our own and then freeze and can. Because of that, we are able to keep our weekly grocery bill to $50-60 (even lower than this in the thick of the summer months) without working really hard at pinching pennies.

All CSA's are slightly different, but I highly recommend checking it out. Especially if you are close.

[timneh_mom]

Go for it! I just signed us up for ours, it's the first time we've tried it. I'm excited!

How much do you get for a 2- person share? We get a half bushel for a single share, and a whole bushel for a family share. We did the single, because there is no way we'd go through a bushel of produce a week.

[cammiekim]

We also love shopping the farmer's market, but we LOVED our CSA!!

Loved getting things we might not have otherwise tried. And the price really beat the farmers market. (Yours sounds hecka cheap!)

Some CSA's just pack the box for you, which is fine. But ours was like a trip to the Farmer's Market. Every week in the park, there would be like twenty boxes of things and a bit list of what we could take. Then we'd go through and "shop," choosing and weighing things, and even have a chance to swap stuff in or out. Super fun with a toddler!! If yours is like that, I doubly say DO IT!

The other thing, in response to another poster, is that getting "too much" stuff is great, too. It forced me to learn how to freeze stuff for future use, which was actually pretty cool. I wanted to try canning, but never got that far. For ex, when we were on our seventh week of like five pounds of heirloom tomatoes (!!!), my sister (an awesome chef) said you can just wash and freeze them whole, and then when you thaw them out, the skin pops right off and you can make the best, fast, "fresh" sauce... in the dead of winter!

[jeca]

Wow that's really cheap. When I looked into the one here it was $34 a week or $715 for the summer.

[Norasmomma]

Well I thought $15 sounded like a pretty good deal, I just didn't know what the going rates are for one, but I have read about them so much on here. I know that it would be quality produce, everything I have seen before from them has been beautiful, I am going to call on it.

[timneh_mom]

Originally Posted by Norasmomma

Well I thought $15 sounded like a pretty good deal, I just didn't know what the going rates are for one, but I have read about them so much on here. I know that it would be quality produce, everything I have seen before from them has been beautiful, I am going to call on it.

Mine is $300 for the summer (Beginning of June here in MI, for 18-20 weeks) and I get 1/2 bushel plus 1/2 dozen eggs (free range chickens) and it's organic. And, only about 15 minutes drive. I forgot to mention that!

[EFmom]

That sounds like a great deal. We love our CSA. I split a share with another family of four, and we both had as much produce as we could handle last summer.

Our farmers markets are astronomically expensive, so I don't shop there much.

[BetsyS]

I say go for it! We were in a CSA last year--great produce, but we paid $30 week/$360 for the season for a full share. A full share was about 1/2-3/4 a brown paper bag full each week. Oh, and I drove an hour each way to get to the farm.

For us, that's not enough produce to last a week (we're a family of 3). I don't know if we are big eaters or what, but I need to supplement each week. And we're omni, so we eat meat, too.

But, I enjoyed it. If circumstances were different this year, we would have joined again.