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?
Reading your blog last summer actually inspired me to sign up for Boston Organics. I had boxes delivered throughout the summer and fall. I stopped in the winter because I felt bad for the poor, frozen veggies on my doorstep. I’m still teetering on renewing this year, because I agree that some of the produce was repetitive, and I’m not sure there was much of a savings. But, it definitely is fun and exciting every once in awhile!
I have a natural food store only a mile from my house, and all they sell is organic, so I do most of my shopping there. The farmer’s market is just across the street, and won’t start until May. I want to look for a local organic farm that sells their produce – that would be great. I’d also like to start my own garden so if you do start one, I look forward to your blogs about it. I have absolutely no clue how to garden!
I would love to build my own garden. It’s such a great idea. I think I would want to start off small though.
I’d really like to do a CSA and think I need to put it on my list. I also love Farmer’s Markets, but often the prices are so steep and the produce doesn’t last very long.
I plan to get my produce from the Farmer’s Market in town. When I go back home to visit I will get loads of veggies from my dad’s garden. He always has an abundance of tomatoes, peppers, and squash. I need to inherit his green thumb but my apartment living doesn’t really allow for much of a garden right now!
I like to use a CSA and Farmer’s Markets – the produce is tastes so fresh when it’s local and organic. I literally put my first carrot seeds in the ground yesterday and will be planting my first real garden this weekend. I’m using a raised bed – which I saw in both Organic Gardening magazine and Martha Stewart LIVING. After some modest success with herbs this winter, I decided it was time to go BIG at HOME. Good luck with yours!
http://bread-n-chocolate.blogspot.com/2011/04/talking-bout-revolution.html
The timing of this article is perfect because this morning i recieved my first email from the CSA I purchased this summer. Like you, we are giving it a shot and I’m super excited about it – mostly because included in our veggies is a bouquet of flowers every week. Score!
The pick up location was disclosed during our purchase, and it’s only a 5 minute drive from our house. Yay!
Like you, I am a bit concerned about the potato/squash overload. Apprantly we get a different potato variety every week.
http://www.eaglecreekfarms.ca/
We planeted our own veg last summer and, although we couldn’t rely on all of our crops actually providing us with edible food, it was great as a top up to our regular shopping :) We currently get a veg box from a local organic famers and we can’t quite work out whether to stick with it or not… seasonal eating is TOUGH! We’ve had potatoes, carrots, parsnips, celariac, swede and onions every week for 4 months :| Occasionally we get a treat like brocolli or cauliflower or maybe, if we’ve been really good, a squash. Generally though it’s just a long hard slog of root veg :(
I’ve thought about joining a CSA, but I’m a little hesitant because of the reasons you named. I fear I’ll waste good veggies if I can’t keep up with the cooking! There is one CSA (in Brooklyn) that is every other week. I am considering that to start!
Awesome your starting a garden!! :)
Great post – I have an adorable farmer’s market every Saturday morning in the summer a block away from my apartment – love it, and its so convenient!
(PS – I just made your Itty Bitty Carrot Cake Cookies last night – they are so yummy! My husband is a huge fan, too. Thanks!)
I have a box delivered to my doorstep on Thursdays. It’s so easy!
I have recently just heard about CSA programs, so I have never been a part of one, but I do buy a lot of my produce at local farmer’s markets that we have in our area. We also have an Amish farm not too far from us, so I buy some stuff there such as flowers, produce, and pumpkins in the fall. :-)
I’d love to join a CSA, but I am such a control freak, I have a problem with other people picking out what I’m cooking with this week ;)
The Square Foot Gardening book by Mel Bartholomew is a great book for starting your first garden. It keeps things simple and is a great resource.
http://www.amazon.com/All-New-Square-Foot-Gardening/dp/1591862027
Growing your own vegetables is so nice – you can plant whatever you want and you can’t beat things that go from the “farm” to table in less than an hour!
thanks! Im so excited!
My husband and I signed up with a CSA a month ago and we got the green light to get our first box last week. We get to go again tonight and we are so excited! We have eaten SO many vegetables this last week! I made stir fry for the first time in my life because we received two heads of bok choy plus cabbage.
I heard about CSAs from a couple of friends at a brunch awhile ago and I did a LOT of internet research before making the final selection. As you mention, there are definitely pros and cons, including selection of produce and location of pickup. Luckily, we live in San Diego, Calif., and the selection is pretty varied. Here’s what is on the agenda for this week: Asparagus, Avocado, Bok Choy, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Chard, Lettuce, Limes or Lemons,
Onions, Oranges, Strawberries, Zucchini. I love that our CSA’s website lists what is to be expected each week so you can plan around it– of course a girl still needs her bananas and that is never going to come in a CSA box!
Good luck planting your garden Angela!
We are in the process of building a garden right now! Luckily my husband is a landscaper, so he knows how to do things like that!
We go to the farmer”s market every Saturday. I look forward to it all week. I also grew a garden last year and plan to do it again. We live in Oregon and last year Summer didn’t really start until mid July. Seriously. So a lot of my stuff didn’t grow as well as it could have. I still grew tomatoes and strawberries and radishes, spinach, kale, lettuce, herbs, green beans and peas and zucchini. We had a section of the yard along side the sunny side of the house that we fenced off so the dogs wouldn’t ruin everything, and then I mixed some compost into the ground and then just planted seeds in rows (the beans/peas against the fence.) I started almost everything from seed except the tomatoes and strawberries. I bought those plants at the farmer’s market. My suggestion would be to try a variety and think of it as an experiment. Radishes were ridiculously fast and easy, and so was the lettuce and beans and peas. oh fyi- we had issues with slugs and I found some slug bait that wouldn’t kill a cat or dog that got into it…I’ll be using that first thing this year, they really loved eating all my veges.
We are planning on planting herbs in pots this year, and my boyfriend’s parents have a HUGE garden in their backyard (they filled in their entire pool to make more room for garden!), so we always have lots from them. We also have a local farmers market that goes from May until November. We go every Saturday morning and choose what we need for the week. It is such a relaxing way to start a Saturday!
By the way, I made your Pumpkin Pie Banana Chunk Oatmeal cookies the other day and they were AMAZING! I used raisins instead of cocoa nibs, and they are delicious! What a great mid afternoon snack!
Brenna
We are lucky to be in a CSA that lets us say what we want, like, etc. if I’m making a recipe, i can email them to see what they can include in our box. We are spoiled.
We just planted our garden this weekend! We always do tomatoes and basil, but this year we bulked it up with more herbs, zucchini, beans, and peppers. Yay!