This is the diary of our CSA share this year. The cost of a 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 the 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 makeup for that.
Fall harvest time has begun here in New York State. The next few weeks will be plentiful, and Hubby and I have to decide if we should be ambitious this year with freezing and storing. I am thinking “no” just because we plan on being away so much of the winter. I asked him if we were planning on bringing any of our cow down to Florida with us, and he nixed that idea. There isn’t all that much left (omg was it GOOD), but I thought we could take the remains. I am certain if he won’t take meat, he is not going to want to take down vegetables.
So, I guess we enjoy the veggies while they are fresh! And next we we will be getting Halloween pumpkins.
This week we took:
● Acorn Squash
● Carrots
● Daikon (white radish)
● Edamame (soy beans… that is the giant pile in the back)
● Napa Cabbage (OMG this makes the BEST frizzled cabbage!)
● Onions (red)
● Peppers (hot)
● Pie Pumpkins
● Salad Greens
Available that we did not take:
● Bok Choy
● Beans
● Beets
● Celery
● Chard
● Collards
● Eggplant
● Kale
● Kohlrabi
● Peppers (sweet)
● Radicchio
● Radishes
And I once again bought the free range, organic fed, brown chicken eggs for $5 a dozen. I think I will miss these most of all when the CSA ends in a few weeks. I’ll just have to remember to buy a few dozen the last week to tide me over.
Do you belong to a CSA? If so, what type? How much? Do you find it as worthwhile as I do?
● Past CSA Shares
● Find a CSA
● NYS Fruit and Vegetable Harvest Calendar
● US Agricultural Data
Barbee says
I have been noticing that these last (several) weeks that the list of produce you did NOT take is rather lengthy.
Do you feel that by not taking that produce, it diminishes the value of your investment? and along that vein-does your CSA offer 1/2 shares? Are you comfortable w/ the idea of asking about it?
Anyway-it SURE looks good! The photos are great too-I want to reach right into the screen and grab all that great looking stuff. (I’m getting hungry by just looking.)
Ann says
We are only allowed to take so much, Barbee. Some weeks it has been 1/2 t-shirt bag, other weeks 3/4s and two weeks a full bag. I couldn’t possibly take one of everything and fit it in that bag, so I take what we are most likely to use/not waste. The half share gets half of what we do. It is not half price, but close.
I can’t look at this CSA as a good return on my cash for goods, or I will bang my head against the wall. I have to look at it as supporting community agriculture, getting it on a day we can make best use of – and not mess up our weekend – and that we get a decent variety. If I look at it from price and the amount we get… my old CSA blows this one away. We will give it one more year. There are a number of other CSAs we can join, including our old one if we don’t see better value next year (that rain early in the season was devastating).
Ann
Barbee says
That part about the bag is important.
Does that mean next week you get 1 pumpkin and nothing else?
Maybe only 1/2 pumpkin fits in bag. LOL JK
Wish we has a reasonable CSA here (within a reasonable distance) there are several that are too far.
We’d wind up paying and never going-kinda’ like a gym membership.
Ann says
LOL I don’t know how many pumpkins we will be allowed. They do break out stuff… like when tomatoes were ripe we’d pick 5, 11, 6, whatever they had harvested and figured would be enough for all. Like the salad greens… that is a different bag every week. The last month they broke out cooking greens to another bag too.
Sometimes it is a bit convoluted, and they have a board with it broken down for half and full shares portions each week.
Ann
KimH says
This week my bag wasnt as full as it has been for a while now.. but it still had plenty! We’re on week 17 too and only go to Week 20.. My CSA does offter another 6 week Winter Share so I’ll be joining that one too.. This way.. Im getting fresh local organic veggies 7 months of the year.. Not too bad.
Ann says
We only have 22 weeks with this CSA, Kim. Hubby didn’t join the winter share, and I’m not sad about it. My sister would have gotten two of the pick-ups as we won’t be in town (there are only 3).
Ann