CSA users?

BeautifulExchange

How do you like using a CSA for your produce? Do you find that it limits you in what you can cook and you spend extra time figuring what you have and how to cook it?

I love the idea! Right now I have a system of planning meals around the sales and only buying what I need so there is very little wasted or money. I just want to be sure I don't end up with rotting produce in my fridge.

(If it helps, DH and I eat a fairly veggie-heavy diet. We have meat maybe once a week) 

TIA! 

WendyGR

I'm going into my 5th year - LOVE it! However, it's not for everyone. Here is a post from my blog that might help - 10 questions to ask before joining a CSA

http://thelocalcook.com/2011/03/31/top-10-questions-to-ask-before-joining-a-csa/ 

SuperGreen

I love the idea of a CSA.  If I didn't work at the Farmer's Market I would do a CSA.  You'll get a box of the best produce the farm has to offer every week.  If you don't want it to go to waste, you'll have to find ways to cook produce you've never seen before, or haven't been inclined to buy before.  Personally I love that about CSAs.  There's nothing better than fresh, local produce in my mind, and you may stumble across something new you really love.

Here's my 5 questions to ask a CSA you're considering:

Questions to ask a CSA

1. Is your CSA only your products, or do you include produce/meat from other farms in the area, or somewhere else in the country? IMHO the whole purpose of a CSA is to support a single local farm, but some veggie CSAs might do meat from a neighboring farm, and some CSAs really should call themselves veggie delivery services b/c they include, say, citrus from several states south.
2. How is your produce or meat grown or harvested? Organic? Hormones? Pesticides? Meat is processed on the farm or trucked to a slaughterhouse?
3. How many weeks is the CSA, what's the cost, and when/where is the pickup?
4. How many different types/numbers of veggies can I expect in each weekly box, and how many people does a box serve?  A single tomato doesn't help much for cooking, on the flip side neither does a whole box of zucchini.  Most CSAs have a "full share" which usually feeds 4-6, or sometimes a "half share" which feeds 2-3.
5. Ask for references from previous CSA members

spiritenergy

We have a CSA that offers flexibility. We are given "money" to spend every week at market, so I can go and get what I want. If I want 20 pounds of strawberries on week, then I can get it. I can carry my money over from week to week. There was a minimum buy in for our CSA but we bought in more than the minimum to give us extra money to buy things in bulk for canning. This gets us out of the "what do we do with 5 squashes?" I would definetely ask for references from friends. I would ask the farmer for a list of what items that they plan to grow. I have seen boxes here where people got an entire basket of radishes. No greens, asparagus, or carrots, just radishes. I would have been mad if that was my CSA. You always have the option to freeze, can, or dehyrdate things that you do not use immediately.

brideofaussie

I just joined a CSA a few months ago.

I LOVE it.  The produce is like a million times nicer than anything in the regular grocery store.  It's also much more varied than what I would normally buy.  So really I'm much less limited now in that sense, however, I am "limited" by what is in my CSA.  And yes, I have had to spend time experimenting w/ different recipes for new foods but I actually like that part the best. 

My favorite thing about the whole experience so far is thinking that I"m giving my son all these new foods as a young child so he won't know anything different. 

If you eat a veggie heavy diet i doubt you'll have lots of leftovers.