Are you currently in a CSA? Yes
If so, how many years have you done it? I'm not sure if it is the exact same thing as a CSA, but we did an organic delivery service back when we lived in WA state. Then we moved to a town where they didn't have such a thing, and the CSAs made us nervous because we were afraid we'd pay and then forget to pick it up. A friend of ours used to ask us to pick his up when he was on vacation, but he stopped asking us the time we forgot.
Then we moved to MA, and we were having such a hard time finding a store in our city that regularly had a wide selection of organic produce, so we joined one this summer.
Do you plan to continue? I'm not sure. dw says "no" because we suck at finding time to store things away, and often our produce goes bad. I want to continue on some level because (1) I feel committed to it as a concept, and (2) it does encourage us toward eating a much wider variety of produce.
If you were in a CSA but stopped, why did you stop? If we stop it will be because I couldn't think fast enough how to use stuff (Our old produce service included a list of what was in the box and loads of recipes that included those ingrediants plus basic stuff we'd already have around. Our new CSA has a list of included produce online, but the items aren't marked in the box, and the list doesn't help if I don't know how to tell the difference between two things (like two different bitter leafy greens...also the recipes are limited in number and usually call for ingrediants I don't have on hand.) As I said, we didn't always have the time or ability to store for future use...so stuff went bad frequently.
Does your CSA have a "u-pick" portion? No
If not, have you been happy with the selection? I like that I am getting a bigger variety of produce than I would otherwise. I do miss the option we had with our old service to pick up to three items we never wanted, and they would substitute when those came up. There are some things we'd just never use.
Having recently moved from the west coast where fruit is all over the place, I was disappointed that there is a very limited amount of fruit in my CSA box. During blueberry season we've been getting a very small container of blueberries most weeks, but that is the only fruit we've received so far. There have been a lot of bitter leafy greens, primarily during the in-season early in the summer, and I like the idea of adding those to our diet for health reasons, but it is hard to find things to do with them that any of us can tolerate, especially the kids. I can only take so much. I haven't found that the CSA consistently reduces the amount I am buying at the store. I have been able to avoid buying carrots at the store, and recently have been able to avoid buying bell peppers and have reduced the number of tomatoes I have to buy at the store. Not to mention that we've received enough corn on the cob that we haven't felt a need to buy corn. *But* a lot of the stuff they send is nice "extra" stuff that isn't a staple for us. For example, we've never been huge on squash. Since we are receiving it (in many wonderful varieties), we are cooking it up and eating it, but my kids frequently don't eat more than a bite or two (they're not big on it), and they are still asking for stuff that isn't included in our box, at least to date. And I still feel the need to buy onions and garlic and things that haven't been in our box. I'm also jealous of those who receive things like milk, eggs, butter, etc. in their CSAs. That would be wonderful, but I suppose that is more common with the food co-op groups (back on the west coast, we had food co-op stores, so the idea of a food co-op with no store is a new one for me).
How long does it take from start to finish when you pick up? Not sure I "get" the question. Are you referring only to the U-pick option, or also to pickup in general. We have a pickup location about a mile from our house. Walking there, could do it in an hour. Driving there, could do it in 10-15 minutes total. If I pick it up on my way home from work, that takes me no more than a couple minutes out of my way.
The big thing that takes a long time is once I get home. Everything needs to be washed, stored (sometimes chopped) right away in order to ensure it gets used, or if it isn't going to get used, can be used later. That takes at least a good hour (especially when I am chopping, blanching and storing for later use).
Do you have to work any hours there? No. And originally I really liked the idea of bringing my kids and working together as a family, but I am realizing that would have been impossible for us to maintain. Not to mention that it would have required a long drive and gas useage we couldn't have maintained.
