CSA questions

[withm]

I do have a nice Farmers Market here on Sunday mornings - but if you are not there by 8am you will stand in long lines iin the hot summer sun at each booth to buy your produce. And there is NO bike parking there. (What's up with that?)??? But it's only a 10-week season for the farmers market - again catering to the tourists and weekend folks.

I saw the list of everything they grow at this farm and about the only items I would not really care for are kale or beets. I sort of look forward to planning meals based on what's really local and in season, and I like to try new things too.

But I'm still looking for someone to split this with.

[Atlas]

We love our CSA. We are trying a new farm this year that was just started by some friends so we'll see how it goes. The two of us just barely make it through a half share. When we'd pick up on Tuesday it meant soup or curry Monday night to use up any odds and ends. I bought 'How to Cook Everything Vegetarian' specifically to make sense of all the veggies we were getting that I wasn't used to.

[paiger81]

I saw the list of everything they grow at this farm and about the only items I would not really care for are kale or beets.

I blend kale up in berry smoothies, it hides the taste. And I also like to make kale chips.

LOL, I have an odd love of beets, so those are never an issue for me :-)

[OakLeaf]

There are so many varieties of kale, it's only the "classic" green curly kale that can be a little strong sometimes. If you're lucky they'll have red Russian kale, so tender and sweet and delicious that my dog used to eat it right out of my shopping bag if I wasn't careful.

[spokewench]

Kale in soups is excellent! Also, roasted beets are like candy to a baby! Luv, luv them!

I'm glad you posted this question about CSAs, it prompted me to go sign up again for ours here in town; it is approximately $20 per week for a 1/2 share.

They also have a small store where they sell local poultry, beef, veges, honey, etc. on a daily basis too so you can pick up things there without being signed up for a weekly share. It is really cool! I almost picked up some things, but remembered that I won't be cooking much for the next two days due to other things going on in the evening.

I'll check on Friday, so I can have some really fresh peas for the weekend.

[paiger81]

I just got back from picking up my CSA half-share order ($45 for me, all organic, 85% local), so I took a pic of it for you to see, hoping this gives you an idea:




All of this was my standard order - the beets and the green onions were part of my "optionals" (we get 3 optional items to choose from out of a selection of 8 veggies. The beets count as 2 options)

[pfunk12]

I pay $140 for an 8-week season at my CSA. I bought the couples share since my 2 teenage daughters can be picky about what fruits and veggies they eat. It's always plenty of produce for the three of us. I also only do the early and mid season since my girls don't really care for fall produce. Here's a sample of what we get (taken straight from the CSA website:

Early Season - Choice of fruit (ie. strawberries, cherries, peaches), 3 lbs vegetables, you-pick, (ie. tomatoes, squash/zucchini, potatoes, onions, cucumbers), 4 bunched items, you-pick (ie. asparagus, carrots, arugula, lettuce, spinach, beets)
Mid Season - 5 lb basket of fruit, you-pick (ie. peaches, donut peaches, plums, nectarines), 5 lbs vegetables, you-pick, (ie. tomatoes, squash/zucchini, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant), Pick 2 other items (ie. corn, melon, heirloom or cherry tomatoes, beans, blueberries/blackberries)

[warneral]

Kale chips rock!!!

I get a little overwhelmed by dealing with all that produce at once and don't plan to do one this year I don't think.

[Atlas]

I just got back from picking up my CSA half-share order ($45 for me, all organic, 85% local), so I took a pic of it for you to see, hoping this gives you an idea:

How does your CSA work? I'm curious because I see a lot of produce stickers and semi-tropical stuff (I guess you're in Texas so some of it makes sense). Is it from a variety of local and non-local places? With the CSAs we've had it's all from one farm.

Ours is also all vegetable so I'm envious of your fruit. I saw a picture of a CSA share from Australia once and it was full of tropical fruit, I nearly moved there just to have mangoes in my box every week.

[paiger81]

My CSA is a partnership with 4 organic farms, 2 are within an hours drive (all of my greens come from Gunderman Farms, the strawberries and some fruit comes from Froberg Farm), 1 is in south Texas (primarily the citrus comes from that, I forget its name, its near Mercedes, TX, but they do give us mangos too) and the 4th is, not local but is organic and the pineapple and the bananas come from there.