S/O: How did you find and choose your CSA?

[amldaley]

I am interested but there are so many different websites, the growers don't seem to be close to me (even though I am surrounded by farms) and no one has their own websites. Their listings on the search sites all seem outdated.

How did you find your CSA and how did you choose which grower/farmer to participate with? How far away is your CSA's farm(s) from you?

[daisymommy]

Here is my criteria that I ask myself before joining a CSA or co-op.

-Is the food grown organically or no-spray? I don't care it is not certified organic, as that can cost so much money and involves alot of bureaucracy that just isn't practical for most small farmers. I want to talk to him & ask how he grows things, does he use sustainable farming methods, crop rotation, soil conservation, and alternative pest fighting methods (other than chemicals) and no herbicides.

-Is the drop off location close by and convenient to me? Same goes for the schedule and time.
Fwiw, I have one that drops off 15 minutes away each week, one that is 30 minutes away but only once a month for co-op supplies, and used to have milk delivered weekly to my door.

-Is the price close to what I would spend on a given week on quality produce at Whole Foods/the store?

-What kind of variety is grown during each season and how much do I get in a share?

*As for how I found my CSA and co-op groups, I used:
http://www.localharvest.org/
http://www.eatwild.com/products/virginia.html

Found some through my local LLL, Holistic Moms group, asking at the farmers market, and doing a Google search for my state and CSA, or organic farm.

Hope that helps!

[DebbieJ]

found ours through www.localharvest.org. We just went with the one with the most convenient pick up point.

[amldaley]

I guess farmers in my area just don't do CSA. Which does not surprise me. :rolleye0014:

The only 3 listed for my ZIP on localharvest are

Alpaca Wool, 115 miles and two crop shares, 137 & 149 miles away.

BUMMER :crying:

ETA: Thanks for the info, though!!! At least now I know!

[WatchingThemGrow]

I found mine on CL because a mom was driving a long way to pick it up and was expecting a baby. She didn't want to deal with packing up the baby to go get veggies with 2 kids in tow. DH picked up the box on his way home, so it was cheap and convenient (and organic.)

When I've looked at getting another one from the farmer's market across the street from my house, I decided to talk to my farmer lady about it. She said that if I got 6 people from my neighborhood, she'd drop the boxes on my front porch. So...every Wed, my box comes to my door. It's pretty nice.

I really like that she makes a cookbook each year, then makes a mealplan for every single item every week. AND, she includes a shopping list. Really, really easy for lazy people like me.

[amldaley]

I found mine on CL because a mom was driving a long way to pick it up and was expecting a baby. She didn't want to deal with packing up the baby to go get veggies with 2 kids in tow. DH picked up the box on his way home, so it was cheap and convenient (and organic.)

When I've looked at getting another one from the farmer's market across the street from my house, I decided to talk to my farmer lady about it. She said that if I got 6 people from my neighborhood, she'd drop the boxes on my front porch. So...every Wed, my box comes to my door. It's pretty nice.

I really like that she makes a cookbook each year, then makes a mealplan for every single item every week. AND, she includes a shopping list. Really, really easy for lazy people like me.

PMing you a lady I met a few weeks ago. She was trying out a dog we were fostering. She mentioned she does CSA.

I love that you did a good deed to begin with and ended up getting a group together so you could get door to door delivery! :)

[WatchingThemGrow]

Oh, we didn't do a good deed. We just bought the rest of her subscription and enjoyed it for super cheap. The next year, the price was huge to us.

[jent]

Well, I heard a lot about the farm from a then-acquaintance who was a member & loved them.

But, I would say it's possible you can't go wrong-- it's fresh, somewhat local food.

Factors to consider:

-location-- a biggie. If it's inconvenient you won't want to go.

-how is the share distributed? Our farm has bins out on tables- it looks like a small farm store. There's a blackboard saying what our share is, but we can pick & choose (ie, you're entitled to 1 bag from table A, 1/2 bag from table B, etc)

-are there other activities? Our farm often has potluck-type events, or will invite everybody to come help with a harvest. The harvests are not mandatory & can be a fun activity for kids.

- is the farm fun to visit? Our farmers kept pigs & chickens. Not for the CSA share (though they sometimes sold the eggs/pork for decent prices) but it was a part of our weekly trip to the farm-- DD always wanted to visit the pigs and chickens.

[AnnieW625]

I found out about our veggie/fruit delivery from my DCP. It turns out that the farm where the delivery company is headquartered is about 20 minutes from my home town, and usually every week there are a couple of items in the box from that farm. All of the other produce is from a variety of organic farms from throughout California (and Arizona I think too). I also love that there is a variety of options, and that I can take things off of the list like I don't need or like. I love that it is all organic because for me to buy all organic every week I know I would spend more than $30 on veggies and fruit.

For those of you in California it's called Farm Fresh to You (http://www.farmfreshtoyou.com).

We used to get a box through Tanaka Farms, but honestly that was too much food for us and we eat a lot of veggies; this is a much more managable size. Plus it wasn't all organic either.

[anonomom]

We found our current CSA-like arrangement through trial and error. Three years ago, we split a traditional CSA share with a friend, and were very unhappy with the way it was run. They were supposed to blog and/or email every week to say what was available, then you were supposed to order and go pick up your veggies at the farmer's market on Saturday morning. Well, the guy who ran the CSA never once blogged and only emailed once or twice -- apparently, most of the shares had been sold to his personal friends, so he just spoke to them and ignored the rest of his shares. Every time I called to ask, he told me just to show up at his farm (he never did secure a table at the farmer's market) and pick from whatever was still available. It was a huge waste of time and money, and we of course didn't re-up for the next season.

Lessons I learned from that experience:

-- Avoid farms without at least some kind of proven track record.
-- While the idea of choice may sound good, it can also backfire on you. Many CSAs offer a standard box of whatever they pick that week, and even if you don't get to choose what you get, at least you know you'll get something. I'd have preferred that to waiting to know what I could order every week.
-- Make sure the pickup spot is convenient, or go with a service that offers delivery. It's worth a little extra money.
-- Sounds basic, but make sure you know going in the kids of produce you could get. That way, you can plan your own garden (if you have one) to supplement their crops without too much repetition.

For the last two years, we've been using a service similar to a CSA. Instead of it being just one farm, they work with farmers all over our state (NC) to source a wide variety of fruits and veggies. Every Friday, I get an email listing a choice of 3-5 boxes available, ranging in price from $22-26/week. I have until Sunday night to choose which box I want (one is usually organic, one offers lots of fruit, etc.), or I will get the default box choice. My box is delivered to my front door every Wednesday. I love it because there is at least some element of choice involved, but I still get exposure to produce I might not otherwise buy. And the food is fresh and local, and you can't beat the convenience of having it delivered. Sometimes it turns out to be significantly more expensive than the grocery store (depending on the crops that week), but I'm willing to pay more to support small, local farms.

[echoesofspring]

-Is the drop off location close by and convenient to me? Same goes for the schedule and time.
Fwiw, I have one that drops off 15 minutes away each week, one that is 30 minutes away but only once a month for co-op supplies, and used to have milk delivered weekly to my door.

-Is the price close to what I would spend on a given week on quality produce at Whole Foods/the store?

-What kind of variety is grown during each season and how much do I get in a share?

All of this and a bit of trial and err. We hadn't had a CSA for several years, b/c our last experience wasn't that great. It was a lot of veggies, but not veggies we eat. Like a ton of turnips, rutabagas, etc. It got to be such a burden, one more obligation...i...must....cook....these....veggies. Some CSA will trade with other farms to give you more variety and fill up your basket, i.e. last week we got leeks and green beans from a farm other than ours.

Our current CSA farm also has a restaurant in town that I love. One of the things I liked about the restaurant was that they used unusual veggies - green cauliflower, red carrots, so I'm hoping their CSA takes a similar creative approach. 2 weeks in so far, so good, a nice variety. Though we're drowning in tomatoes, but that's a good problem, IMO :)