CSA's

K-hart · May 2011

Or community shared agriculture. Glen and I are thinking about joint one. Does anyone know anything about them or belong to one? From my understanding, it's like you purchase a piece of the farm, like a share and you then get weekly 'shared' produce that's currently in season. We're thinking about joining an organic farm.

MBMcC421 · May 2011

CSAs are expensive, at least the ones around here are when I was looking into them. I'm not all that into organics so I didn't research much further. Plus, I have my local Farmer's Market, so if I want home-grown produce I can always pop over there, and the price is much more manageable.

K-hart · May 2011

MBMcC421:
CSAs are expensive, at least the ones around here are when I was looking into them. I'm not all that into organics so I didn't research much further. Plus, I have my local Farmer's Market, so if I want home-grown produce I can always pop over there, and the price is much more manageable.

The one we're looking into is $15 a week. But, we probably easily spend that if not more in produce every week.

Diamond_Doll · May 2011

I looked into joining one this year. It was going to be $400 for 16 weeks, but I'm sure that varies by area. You're right in saying it's a share of a farm (or group of farms in some cases). If the farm does well, you get lots. If they have a bad season, you don't get as much. You also don't get to pick what you get. It's just a random box filled with whatever's available. Part of me liked that idea, the surprise element, I suppose. In the end though, I decided that I could go to the farmer's market and buy exactly what I wanted for as cheap or probably cheaper than the CSA. You also can't cancel a box, so for example, if you're going on vacation for a week (or in our case 2) you pay for that box anyway. They suggest donating it to needy families, which is great, but really that's 40 bucks I spent on food and didn't eat. I wasn't excited about that part.

lneuner09 · May 2011

um, I'd call the place you're looking at. Odds are they are sold out already or have already started deliveries. Usually you have to be signed up by like beginning of April.

K-hart · May 2011

Diamond_Doll:
I looked into joining one this year. It was going to be $400 for 16 weeks, but I'm sure that varies by area. You're right in saying it's a share of a farm (or group of farms in some cases). If the farm does well, you get lots. If they have a bad season, you don't get as much. You also don't get to pick what you get. It's just a random box filled with whatever's available. Part of me liked that idea, the surprise element, I suppose. In the end though, I decided that I could go to the farmer's market and buy exactly what I wanted for as cheap or probably cheaper than the CSA. You also can't cancel a box, so for example, if you're going on vacation for a week (or in our case 2) you pay for that box anyway. They suggest donating it to needy families, which is great, but really that's 40 bucks I spent on food and didn't eat. I wasn't excited about that part.

I kind of like the thrill of the mystery box, haha. The organic farm in PA is $400 for 28 weeks, so a little more manageable. I guess I'm afraid that the farm may have a bad year then I don't get Sh!t.

K-hart · May 2011

lneuner09:
um, I'd call the place you're looking at. Odds are they are sold out already or have already started deliveries. Usually you have to be signed up by like beginning of April.

They started deliveries last week and still have openings. Around here, I think you go to a pick-up center.

maryandkirk0909 · May 2011

Diamond_Doll:
Part of me liked that idea, the surprise element, I suppose. In the end though, I decided that I could go to the farmer's market and buy exactly what I wanted for as cheap or probably cheaper than the CSA.

This is why we don't do it. As much as I like greens, etc., most of the produce I like doesn't grow where I live so CSAs around here kind of suck, and they're $50-80 a week.

K-hart · May 2011

Maybe it's my location. From what everyone says on here, it seems to good to be true. I must investigate further.....

MBMcC421 · May 2011

K-hart:
Maybe it's my location. From what everyone says on here, it seems to good to be true. I must investigate further.....

Seriously... just go to your Farmers' Market. It will save you time, money, stress... all things you need to be wary of with Baby C coming!

wamozart12 · May 2011

We did one last year, and while I loved it, we're not doing it again this year. it's just too expensive right now. 20 weeks is $575 plus we also got the fruit share for $80 (which was kind of a waste, we'd get like 1/2 cup of blueberries or 4 peaches, etc each week) and the flower share for $75 (which I liked). i think last season was pretty bad around here, so we got one paper grocery bag each week. I like using my money to supportive local agriculture, though so I didn't mind the expense. I also liked never knowing what we'd get, it was kind of exciting. But then I'm pretty adventurous with food and cooking.

We're going to try out the local farmer's markets this summer, since I don't have to worry about working hours I can probably go to some.

And the one we did last year was the kind where you pay money and you get veggies. There are a couple others around here where you have to pay money AND go once a week to work at the farm. Oh hell no!

K-hart · May 2011

MBMcC421:
K-hart:
Maybe it's my location. From what everyone says on here, it seems to good to be true. I must investigate further.....

Seriously... just go to your Farmers' Market. It will save you time, money, stress... all things you need to be wary of with Baby C coming!

I think I will for this year (go to the farmers markets) and maybe revisit this next year.

steeser03 · May 2011

28 weeks seems like a really long time for a CSA to me and the primary reason why we havent bought shares is because its kind of a toss-up on what you get. with it being that long, i feel like the probability that you will end up with foods you dont eat will be REALLY high. They have "example boxes" but its all dependent on what the crop is like what you end up with. Additionally, for that length of time I feel like you would end up paying for a lot of stuff that you typically wouldnt buy. there are so many farmers markets in the area that i have found its better to spend the money on things that we want rather than only getting 1/3 what we want and 2/3 things i have to either give away or find a way to incorporate.

if youre having trouble finding places to buy from, check this out: http://www.capitalrcd.org/files/pdfs/LocalFoodGuide2010.pdf

melpfaff · May 2011

I looked into some. Overall, the pick-up times were inconvenient with my job and DH's job being unpredictable. I will also be doing the farmer's market.

tarmar81 · May 2011

I think the appeal and price of these definitely must vary by area. There's a CSA farm very close to us that offers half shares for $14 a week and full shares for $28 a week. The season lasts 20 weeks. You do have to volunteer 10 hours to the farm at some point, but the one I looked into sounds like fun since you get to meet a lot of people with similar interests. If the season is bad, that's just kind of the luck of the draw and the way farming works. It's great to support these though. Farmer's markets are great to support as well, though and it's true it's easier to get exactly what you want.

We may put our names in for the CSA next year, if I hear that one of my friends who is in the program enjoys it this season.

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