Some of you might remember last May when we bought a CSA share from Plan B organic farms. It was our first time ever buying a CSA share and we were excited for local and organic food each week.
Well to clarify, it was mostly ME who was excited…but excitement is contagious and I think Eric secretly enjoyed it too.
…I think it was all the cooking I did!
We quickly learned that there were things we loved about the CSA share and things that we didn’t love.
CSA PROS:
1) Value for dollar
At just $20 something dollars a week, we were given a huge box of organic produce. It would have cost much more had we purchased this at the grocery store. Even so, we wouldn’t have been able to find everything organic at the grocery store and I can bet it wouldn’t have been local either.
2) Support local organic farmers
3) Fresh & Crisp produce, better quality than what we find at grocery store
4) Our veggie consumption went way up and we felt amazing.
5) We tried so many new vegetables. Even scary ones!
CSA CONS:
1) Lots of Repetition
By August/September we were getting tons and tons of potatoes and squash (among other things) and we got so sick of the repetition. I’m sure if we lived in a tropical climate, there would be a better selection of produce each week, but around here I think we are more limited.
2) No choice in what produce you get
We often found ourselves longing for some items that were in season and they never came (e.g., tomatoes).
3) Picking up the box each week
We opted not to get a delivery to save money. We found out only after we purchased the share that the pick-up location was a 25 minute drive from our house and it wasn’t overly convenient for us. Plan B does not disclose the pick-up location until your make the purchase. Obviously, this was a con for our particular circumstance, but pick-up location is still something to consider before buying.
Our 2011 Produce Plan
This year, we decided that we are going to change things up and do things a bit differently!
Our plan for the 2011 season is to:
1) Possibly plant a garden this Spring, time willing!
2) Buy produce from the Milton Farmer’s Market. We aren’t working at the Oakville market this summer so we hope to attend the Milton Market (as customers!) as much as possible this year. It opens May 14th.
3) Buy produce from local organic farm. I recently discovered that there is an organic farm not too far from us. This organic farm lets you buy produce on Wednesday evenings and they will also be selling at the Milton Farmer’s Market on Saturdays.
(If we plant a garden, we won’t need to rely on the farm/market as much…but we’ll have to see!)
If we manage to build a garden, I plan on showing the process on the blog. I really have NO CLUE how to build a veggie garden (and I don’t know a thing about vegetable gardening!), but my RMT has been teaching me a lot about it because she is a pro. :) I’m sure I can find some tutorials online too.
I hope our new plan will work out well this season. I will keep you updated on our progress!
Do you have a plan of how you will be buying your produce this Spring and Summer? Do you ever use a CSA, Farmer’s Market, local farm, or plant your own veggies? If you plant your own garden, how did you start it up?
The city I live in has one of the oldest farmer’s markets in the country, so I go there often. In fact, I’m going today! The fiance and I also are planting a garden this year. We’ve done it before, but haven’t had the space again until this year, so he’s been researching elevated gardening (which is supposed to make it easier if you’re just starting) and we’re planning to plant tomatoes, peppers, and herbs, plus some squash for the fall. I love having a garden out back!
I am starting a garden this year, too! We also love to go to the farmer’s market in town. I look forward to reading about your garden. I am clueless as well!
It’s great to see so many people using CSA’s, farmer’s markets, and even growing their own! I haven’t gone the CSA route quite yet, but I go to the farmer’s market almost every weekend in the spring and summer after it opens and have started growing some of my own veggies this year. It’s been fun so far!
I feel so lucky to have so many awesome farmers markets around me, which we take full advantage of. Also, our city as a whole seems very focused on organic and locally-sourced ingredients, which is so awesome.
We were members of a CSA 2 years ago, and while I saw the benefit, I personally enjoy picking out my produce, wandering around, deciding what to make, and I lost that with the CSA.
There is a year round farmers market that we use as much as possible, and we get the out of season things I declare necessities (tomatoes) at the grocery store right down the road.
Love your thoughts on this!! We haven’t done the produce box ever, and I feel somewhat the same about it. It would be SO convenient and exciting each week, but I fear we would be loaded with squash, [which I already cooked too much of one summer + Chris doesn’t like, hehe] and things like eggplant, and BEETS [yak!] etc. I know some of them allow you to give a list of a few things you don’t like. I would LOVE to start a garden + a compost bin. I feel like I should take a class or something though. My mom got me a great organic gardening book, but I have had ZERO time to even think about putting a garden together. Plus, it can get pretty pricey the first year you make it. I don’t trust the soil around here and would want to make planter boxes. To do that, you have to get completely untreated wood, which is $$. I’m hoping to at least plant a few things maybe in a month or so and then peruse the markets, which are in walking/biking distance!! I love love actually going to the markets.
I am so glad that you addressed CSAs. I was looking into them this year but was a little reluctant do to some of the same things that you listed as cons. I would love, love, love to have my own garden. We are still working on it (meaning I am still working on my husbands help;). This will be my first year exploring more local, organic options, so I can’t wait to see what I find!
that is great about starting your own garden. I would love that too but I am pretty certain that my dogs would tear it apart. :)
I am so blessed here in LA. Our produce is amazing and all-year. There is a Farmers Market everyday somewhere and it is so easy. I am super grateful for it too.
My husband and I belong to a CSA program. We live in California, so we see a lot of variety each week. Sure we have the staples a lot like potatoes, kale and apples – but overall, we usually see something new each week. I also love supporting my local economy.
I have joined a CSA this year as well as planning to plant a very small garden to share with my family if I have too much produce. I can’t wait to really focus on organic and local produce. I am even hoping to freeze and can a bunch of stuff so I can enjoy it through the winter months as well.
I don’t have a backyard, so growing basil on my balcony is about as far as I go. (It’s the only herb that can take the shade and still sprout into a bush.) We’re trying out a farm delivery service. Unlike a CSA, the service collects from a bunch of farms in the area. Plus, we get to pick our produce each week.
Good breakdown of the pros and cons of CSAs. We have not gotten involved for exactly the reasons you list as cons. Many of our friends have joined and they feel obligated to stay with it, even though they don’t really want to.
We are on our boat all summer so don’t have garden space. But I do usually have a tomato plant on board. Love fresh tomatoes the best.
Have fun with your garden… it is so much easier than you think it will be. And very satisfying, too.
What a great post! We did a CSA last year, and loved it, but had some of the same frustrations as you. It wasn’t a dealbreaker or anything, but the repetition was a little wearing (though I suppose that’s what old-school farm life was like, eh? ;) ) I never want to see another mustard green in my life…lol! We have the opportunity to garden this year, so we plan to invest ourselves in that and supplement with markets and local farms that sell produce outside of CSAs. Here’s hoping it works out! :)
We did an organics delivery for a few weeks last year and although I LOVED having a guy hand me a HUGE box of organic food, we stopped it. Mostly because a lot of it wasn’t local and that bothered me and the other was there was, like you said, too much repetition.
This year we plan to do something very similar to you, we plan to finally take advantage of the TWO farmers markets that are fairly close to our house and I plan to plant a few veggies that we use most often. I especially intend to plant some herbs!
I’m really looking forward to supporting the local community and I know my boyfriend is also eager to do it!
We have a raised planter bed garden. We start everything from seed in peat pots, it is cheaper than buying the plants. Our little seedlings are coming along great this year. I do get a weekly CSA box, it gets delivered for free if I spend $35.00. The veggie box is $25.00 and the fruit box is $10.00 so it works out perfectly. I do get bored with the produce and some it I just don’t like (kale!) I can’t wait for our garden to be in full force so I can stop the CSA this summer. There is nothing better than picking your own veggies, rinsing them off and eating them within minutes. It is alot of work – but it is so worth it. I really recommend the raised planters. We grow tomatos, corn, squash, zucchini, eggplant, peppers, edamame, green beans, snow peas. This year we are trying pinto and black beans. We add more every year.
My father and I just built our first raised box garden for our vegetables. We, too, have never grown vegetables or anything in our backyard. I started off following Sunset Magazine’s gardening page on their website and have been following their guidelines as best as I could. Most vegetables had to seeded indoors for the first 5-7 weeks or longer until the night frost disappears. We are planting them this week and we’re SOOOO scared to plant these babies! We have a dog and two cats who love the outdoors, so who knows if they’ll be good around garden. hahaha!
I have the same gripes about CSAs. I also think that the quality can be really sketchy depending on which farm you join. I choose to garden myself, and I HIGHLY recoomend you do too! Just start small….I didn’t and it was kind of overwhelming. Plant greens and herbs, both of which are super easy, and maybe peppers or tomatoes or a couple things you eat a lot of. You can still get the scary new veggies at the Farmers Market to try new things.
Can you please share the name of the local organic farm you refer to? I live on the Milton/Mississauga border and would love to know!
Emailing you now :)
Can you email me too? I live in Milton and would love the option of doing mid-week shopping if time does not permit for the Saturday farmer’s market.
Thanks so much! And I love your site. Have been visiting for a very long time and find much inspiration. I’m soda pop free for 4 days now! :)
done and done
We garden every year! It’s a bit of work, but OH so worth it!! Kale is amazing, it’s continued to grow through out the whole winter too!! I start planting seeds in min april… and then plant after the frost is gone!! In my climate (west coast Canada) squash (zuchinni) grows awesome, and kale of course, and herbs are insane… Tomatoes grow good, if they are in a super hot spot!!
Good luck, it’s SO fun to have a garden!
i loved reading your pros and cons of the CSA, angela – thanks for the recap.
i am looking forward to trips to the st jacobs market this summer – hopefully i can tag along some thursday mornings with my dad when he goes – always a fun father/daughter outing. also, uptown waterloo hosts a thurs eve outdoor market during the summer – it’s pretty small, but i’d love to pick up produce and support some local farms.
enjoy our sunshine today!