[Katy Did]

Has anyone here ever subscribed to a local CSA (community supported agriculture) program?

I'm looking into a subscription for the summer for a CSA basket that would allow me to customize what I receive every week, which sounds GREAT. Most of the other programs I've looked into are ones that give you baskets full of whatever they have available, which seems to mean that you can stuck with like 10 eggplants and 2 pounds of parsnips a week (ie things I don't normally cook with and in weird quantities that would be a struggle for me to use up in that time frame).

Has a CSA subscription motivated anyone here to try new recipes to use all the produce?

Do you find it helpful to have a pre-paid basket of vegetables to pick up, or is it more of a hassle because you don't get to choose your own specific vegetables with your regular groceries?

I'd love to hear any reviews of your experiences!

[Suzanne 3FC]

I did it one year and enjoyed it, but I only bought a short subscription. The pick-up location was in a nearby city, and wasn't much fun to drive the distance in rush hour. However, I enjoyed what I received since they included a wide range of vegetables and not a lot of each. It was fun to find surprises in my basket that were new to me, so it encouraged me to try new veggies. One time they even included locally produced goat cheese, which was a real treat.

[Desiderata]

We tried a full share last year when a CSA offered to do weekly drops in our neighborhood. They were awesome hippy crunchy "beyond organic" farmers and we were getting stuff they'd picked just a few hours earlier. It was fun, but not cheap.

Our experience was mixed. I'd say it was positive, but we didn't go for it again this year. On the one hand, our veggie consumption went WAY up. We were racing against the clock every week to eat stuff up, because more was coming. We rarely got to it all, but my husband thought the waste was "worth it" because the increased veggie consumption.

Like Suzanne, we enjoyed being exposed to new veggies that we wouldn't normally buy. A good CSA will give you advice or even recipes on how to prepare what's in your basket, which helps.

It was exciting at first to see what we'd get each week, but after awhile, I really missed the ability to plan my weekly meals. I started resenting my weekly onslaught of veggies. I now never want to see a radish again, and my husband has said the same for okra.

I am so glad we tried it, and maybe we'd do it again sometime. The relationship with the farm was the best part of the experience. I'd recommend at least trying it out once! Edit - the fact you can customize a bit of what you get is AWESOME, I'd try that in a heartbeat. On the other hand, it makes me wonder how local your produce would be and if you wouldn't just be paying for someone to essentially drop off grocery produce?

[Katy Did]

Thanks for sharing your experiences! Over all, it does seem like something well worth trying, even if I don't stick with it in the long term.

It was fun to find surprises in my basket that were new to me, so it encouraged me to try new veggies.

This is a big reason why I'm interested. Also, there are a few vegetables that I am not a big fan of, such as beets and eggplant, and I keep hearing how much better produce tastes when it's fresh from the farm. So maybe I WOULD like these things if I could conveniently try them in their freshest state.

the fact you can customize a bit of what you get is AWESOME, I'd try that in a heartbeat. On the other hand, it makes me wonder how local your produce would be and if you wouldn't just be paying for someone to essentially drop off grocery produce?

The main farm providing the produce is a rooftop farm in a big city, and they supplement their goods with other community farms just outside the city. So it's a little network of farms that are all local.

I think I might give it a try later in the summer!

[CyndiM]

We have done several CSAs that allow us to choose our produce each week and have several delivery options. There are lots of CSAs here so they all offer special things to attract members (some have cutting gardens, some fruit or meat or bread, some have pick your own beds, etc) All our experiences have been good, some better than others. I really love our winter CSA and do that one every year. This year I encouraged a local farm stand to offer a CSA type deal in the spring so we will use them, our own garden, and local farmer's markets. I do think a good CSA is a great start to increasing your produce intake.