2014 CSA Share Week 4

This is the diary of our 2014 CSA share. The cost of our full share is $545 for 22 weeks (this CSA offers a winter share) which will bring us to the last week in October, and works out to $24.75 per week. Western New York weather is such that June is lightest CSA month. September and October will be more than abundant! Usually I feel I don’t get my money’s worth the first few weeks (which will be predominantly lettuces), but the fall bags more than make up for that.

We also purchased a Fruit Share this year for $180, lasting 18 weeks which works out to $10 per week. The local fruit included in the fruit share starts with cherries, apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines, blueberries, and moves into pears, raspberries and of course apples! This portion of the share begins in July.

Looks like we are back to picking and choosing from the options available. I wasn’t too impressed this week at all – we could fill a plastic bag, but the broccoli wasn’t trimmed, the zucchini was enormous, etc. Maybe I just have rabbit-food-fatigue, but I don’t think the value was there at all this week. Even if I could have taken everything, I still would have been meh. And, since no one here has been eating the greens, I may a conscious decision not to take any – Hubby has already frozen a load to make no sodium vegetable stock.

The u-pick opened a week ahead of schedule, so we got peas. I wasn’t prepared for that, so my sandals and I walked very gingerly among the pea vines.

In other CSA news, our 18 week fruit share has been cut to 17 weeks due to weather – the early spring weather was cool (weatherman said April ran 5° above normal, but what do the weather-people know?), so the fruit trees are a bit behind. Apparently we will a “full load” on the fruit trees this year. Cherries will begin for us on July 10th (take note those of you in WNY looking for seasonal fruit).

2014 CSA Share Week 4

● Bok Choy
● Broccoli *
● Broccolini
● Garlic Scapes *
● Head Lettuce
● Peas *
● Radicchio *
● Red Russian Kale
● Romaine *
● Salad Turnips
● Various Greens – including Arugula, Tot Soi, Vitamin Greens and Tokyo Borkan

* took for share

Do you belong to a CSA? If so, what type? How much? Do you find it as worthwhile as I do?

● For more CSA posts on Ann’s Entitled Life, click here.

● Mind Your Peas and Cukes pinterest board: All things CSA, Produce, Farmstead Fresh – community supported agriculture, farmstand fresh produce, organic produce, more from all over the United States.

● CSA posts
● Find a CSA
● Porter Farms CSA (we belonged for years)
● Root Down Farm CSA (our 2013 and 2014 CSA)
● NYS Fruit and Vegetable Harvest Calendar
● US Agricultural Data