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?
I’m actually planning on growing my own garden too! I have some organic basil + tomatoes that I’m hoping to plant soon and I want to get some watermelon + other veggies too! I got my seeds at Home Depot (you’re fav place in the world ;)) so if you’re looking for seeds that’s a place to go. I hope I can see how you end up growing your garden. My dad sad he’s going to help me start one up (with the dirt, set-up, etc) so I’m looking forward to blogging my experiences too!
I’d love to find a local organic farm/farmer’s market… I’m on the hunt for one right now!
I can’t waaaait to start my garden.. I’m itching to get down and dirty :)
I eliminated the cons in your list by signing up for KC Door to Door Organics (kc.doortodoororganics.com). They deliver and you can sub out items you don’t really want for something else. I love it!
We have the same thing here in Edmonton (called The Organic Box). Delivered to your door, able to sub produce and also add on extra items such as dry goods, beans/legumes, etc.
Though in the summer, I enjoy being out at the market, so I might pause my order for a few months!
I have the Organic Box delivered too and loved it over the winter so I didn’t have to leave my house.
But in the summer I love a combination of farmers market and www.eatlocalfirst.com? You can purchase their Good Food Box for a grab bag of produce, or shop for produce, meats, legumes & other goodies indvidually. All 100% local to the Greater Edmonton Region.
I sometimes get my produce from the farmers market, I like it because most of it is local unfortunately it’s not organic. I really want to plant my own garden! Not sure if most seeds are GMO or if you can actually buy organic seeds, what kind of seeds do you use?
I started a garden last year. It is hard work, and difficult when I travel for work. I planted in the ground and in earth boxes. My earth boxes did amazing. The in-ground garden was rocking too until we got days and days of rain and the ground flooded and I lost everything. Bummer. I guess that is why you need raised beds?!? I don’t know. It is a fun experiment though, and I sure have lots more respect for organic farmers now!
I had an amazing 4×6 raised bed garden last year, along with a lot of pots/containers. This year I am adding an additional TWO 4×4 raised bed gardens to what I already had. I LOVE growing my own veggies and herbs. It is completely awesome, and I highly recommend it!
I also shop the local Farmers Markets for products that I don’t grow, eggs, local meat and just for the social aspect of it, as well.
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I actually JUST posted about our new CSA this morning. It is our second one and a better fit than our first experience. While I agree with the repetition that can happen, I figure that’s just a part of eating in season. We supplement our basket with other stuff from the farmers’ market and the grocery store, but it’s fun to slip our CSA items into everything I make. Last night we had black bean and tofu enchiladas and I threw in our CSA chard because it was getting wilty. A delicious addition!
i always go back and forth about csa! I have never done invested in it because I thought it was a bit expensive and afraid the produce would go to waste since there is just 2.5 of us eating it. It wouldn’t be worth is for my family but I think the idea is good but needs to be changed up a bit to suite more people. I love the farmers market.
I love my CSA because it’s set up like a farmer’s market. You’re given different-sized baskets and instructed to fill one with veggies, one with fruit, etc. Choose all apples or none; lots of tomatoes or just one; whatever sounds good. It’s definitely more flexible than a traditional CSA and all for just $25/week!
That’s our plan as well! I agree, CSA’s repetition gets boring, and I find, too, that I long for other variety that I never got, and then some food would go bad because we were tired of it, etcetera. We don’t know anything about gardening either, but it’s on our radar for the next few months … we’ll see how it goes! ;)
I love farmers markets, especially because of the variety of produce you can find depending on the day and the vendors! That’s my favorite way to get fresh food. I’ve been a little skeptical of getting a CSA share because I feel like we would get bored with the produce and probably waste some of it, but one day I would like to give it a shot because it does seem like a good value.
Great topic Ange! I was thinking about finding a CSA, but like you said in your cons, I’m not sure the repetition is something I’d cope well with. I like having a big variety all the time! However, I’ve yet to price it out so I still plan to do a bit more research. My plan for this year is to go to the 2 local farmer’s markets more, as they tend to be cheap and it’s nice to know I’m supporting local businesses.
Planting a vegetable garden is great! I planted my first one last year and got a lot of great fresh veggies from it! We did have some stuff that just didn’t grow or ripen the way it should’ve, but it’s all a learning process, and it’s seriously so exciting to go outside and see like baby veggies growing lol. If you do plant a garden, definitely look into seed saving for next year, it’s so much more cost effective than buying new seeds or plants every year.
I’m hoping on having a garden this spring/summer, as well as utilizing the local farmer’s market for as much as possible.
The sailorman and I have been talking a lot about the food we buy and both conclude that we’re not ready to try going 100% “locavore”, or feel the need to. We love coffee, baked goods, and BANANAS too much! However, we are going to try to source as much as humanly possible from our own property and the farm’s around us before we head to the supermarket – and once at the supermarket, we will try to buy as HUMANELY as possible as well.
I have no garden as I live in a flat but luckily I have an organic farm shop a short drive away which is wonderful. I also get a fortnightly organic veg box delivery and love to visit local green grocers and markets but unfortunately they aren’t always organic. I do try and go for a balance between striving for organic but still getting a good variety!
For starting up gardens: beginning with containers is a nice first step: herbs, tomatoes, sugar peas, etc. I’m not sure what your growing season is, but containers give you the most flexibility. Things like asparagus take 3 years to mature from the initial planting. . . so that requires a bit more of a commitment for gardening. I, frankly, have never moved beyond the container stage.
We do a combination…being in Northeast Florida, I originally thought our resources were limited, but I was wrong! We have a great farmer’s market year round, with great offerings! And there is a second farmer’s/arts market in “the big city” nearby.
AND we were able to get enough customers together to get the Jacksonville organic deliverer to come to our little island, so we now get 5lbs. of organic produce delivered every other week, $25. I love the variety I’ve been exposed to, but I do believe we were worn out by parsnips in the fall!
Last, we live in a condo, with a small patio. My husband, the farmer, grows swiss chard, collard greens, tomatoes, spicy peppers, brussel sprouts, and a bunch of different herbs for me!
BTW: I had my first vegan overnight oats for breakfast this morning! Wow! At first, I thought, I’m never going to eat all of this, but I did! Yum! And, I’m not hungry yet! Usually by this time I’m famished and eager to snack! I may alternate the oats with the Green Monsters each morning! Thank you for your recipes!!
Thanks for sharing! It sounds like you have some fantastic options over there! I am impressed that your husband grows all of that on a patio too! :)
Glad to hear you enjoyed the VOO. :)
We shop the farmer’s market every weekend when it’s in season. We also have a large garden. Our backyard is more food than grass. We started out small, square foot gardening with a single plot of tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini. Now we have 6 plots and grow the majority of our own produce. Heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, pole beans, dried beans, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, a few varieties of potatoes and 5 or 6 different kinds of greens. We have raspberry and blackberry bushes and a separate herb garden as well. It’s a lot of work, but so much fun and so rewarding. I love growing the food we eat. My kids enjoy helping in the garden and it’s gotten them to eat and enjoy a wide variety of veg.
I’m in the same boat as you! I want to plant a garden this year…time wise, will it happen?? We’ll see! But, I also have no idea on where to start/how to garden veggies…Maybe we can learn together!?
The other option was joining Edmonton’s ‘The Organic Box’, which like some others mentioned, has a delievery or pick up service as well as the option to switch out things you may not want for other things…But the cost is definately a factor…
We’ll see what happens!
My family has always had a veggie garden, but last year we got more serious about it and ended up with TONS of fresh veggies! You can look up most of the instructions online and we also picked up some gardening magazines for some basic plans and planting tips. It was such a great feeling to make a complete meal with veggies from our yard, and I found out that kale can actually grow year round, even in snow!
Last year I was part of a CSA but I won’t be joining this year for a lot of the reasons you mentioned. Plus I found the people from the pick-up to be snotty :(
So…..my produce plan for spring/summer is to buy from Farmer’s Markets. I am super lucky to live close to 3 different markets.
From time to time I order a Good Food Box. I love everything they stand for:
http://www.foodshare.net/goodfoodbox03.htm
I definitely don’t garden – I kill bamboo and cactuses!! Or is it cacti?
I do too!!! lol. Doh!
There may be hope for us! I stumbled upon the Toronto and Region Conversation website. They are offering free and low cost events on organic lawn care, gardening with plants native to Southern Ontario, recycling rain, garden design etc.
http://www.trcastewardshipevents.ca
It could be helpful?
thanks!