farmer's market/csa experience

mom418

mom418

Cathlete
hi, it seems like lots of cathletes are knowledgable about farmer's markets/csa.
i was looking up farmers markets in my area, there are a few and csa ,membership options. full membership is $500 or 13 wks for 250.
we cant go anywhere on sat, when farmers markets do business. alternatives?
theres a local farm that offers csa pick up and pick your own 2 weekdays. i really dont see dh going every wk. at most every 2 weeks to grocery shop. if we could he would go once a month. are there any other alternatives, till i can drive myself if i want?
 
I'd like to hear CSA experiences as well. We have farmer's markets, but most of them don't sell anything beyond fruits & basic veggies. I'm mostly looking for eggs.
 
here's another one:
www.localharvest.org
that was the first one i found the other day, but couldnt remember how i got there.
i found a local organic farm, prob 30 mins from where i live. not bad. its even closer to my niece and nephews, all under 5. really interested in learning about getting food this way- directly from the farm, sometimes you pick your own. kids love that. so it could be a trip to do together, this fall or next year. great learning experiences for all. have no clue how the prices are though.
 
I've been a member of a CSA for about a year now. I love it! We were lucky enough to find one that has a lot of different pickup locations during the week.

The way ours is done is that you can get a family share, full share or half share. I'm not sure what you get with the family share, but the full share is usually about 10 items plus eggs. The "items" of course vary from pickup to pickup. I get the half share, which is my choice of 7 items not including eggs.

This week I got wheatberries (about 2 cups), ammarath greens, anaheim pepper, 2 large red potatoes, a large cantaloupe, a bunch of carrots and baby eggplants (about 6). The items I did not select were okra, red peppers or a cucumber. Everything is grown organically.

I like the challenge of eating more in season. Some folks don't like the fact that you don't get to pick what you are getting. Over the course of the year, I've tried new things and had to come up with new ways of preparing items that I got every week for a couple of weeks. But the freshness of the fruits and veg are well worth the challenge for me.
 
Thank you for sharing that, Nekko Cat. I've heard that being part of a CSA forces one to get creative in the kitchen sometimes.
 
I just joined my local CSA this year and am planning on upping mine from a half share to a full share. I just love it. A full share for me is $450 for 20 weeks and a half share was $350 for 20 weeks. It runs form mid May till mid Oct. They also did a spring share from Apr to May for $100 and just a summer share from June till Aug for ( I can't remember) So anyway I just did the half share since this was my first year. I have to say it was well worth it since my garden did not do well at all this year. This week we got 1 qt container endamme, 1 qt string beans, 1 huge eggplant, 4 nectarines, and a thing of cherry tomatoes. Now I was told the full share is double this and one other item. Last week was the end of the corn season so we got the last 6 ears of corn, 3 yellow squash, 3 nectarines, 1 qt of onions, and 1 qt of okra. We have also gotten a watermelon and cantaloupe which by far superseeds any grocery store. I really do think it is well worth the money and we be doing the full share next year like I said.
 
I did a local organic CSA last year where we picked up our box every week for about $260 for the fall season. I also ordered free-range organic eggs. I loved the eggs, but honestly, I guess I'm one of the ones that doesn't like not being able to pick what I get. We got heads upon heads of cauliflower last year and tons of beets-- pretty much the only two vegetables that I despise, so I felt that was a total waste. In addition, half of my box was fresh herbs that I couldn't identify (and weren't labeled), so I had no idea how to use. Even though I consider myself pretty well versed in fruits and veggies, at least twice I got a box with 1-2 veggies that I simply couldn't identify.

I think if you had the option of going to a pick-your own farm or a farmer's market or something, that would be better. I did that instead this year, and it worked out far better, since I could pick what I wanted and not end up with tons of veggies that I gave/threw away.

Just my two cents!

I hope whatever you decide works out for you! :)

MC
 
at the nearby farm that does a csa, some items were already picked, with the option of picking certain kinds yourself. such as cherry tomatoes. it wasnt clear if sometimes those are pick for you too, or if you always have to diy. my kids love tomatoes.

the full share costs 500, half 250. what i'm not sure about, is how that compares to the store? i know its healthier, but is it cheaper? similar cost? theres 5 in our house, so this would have potential to really save money. we spend about 450/mo now.
 
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