CSA Farm

Even though you are not from the Pittsburgh area, it might still be worth your while to check out a few articles that the Pittsburgh Post Gazette did recently on CSA's. They give you questions to ask etc which would apply to any CSA in your area. Here are links to the articles...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09085/958260-34.stm

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09085/958263-34.stm

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09085/958273-34.stm

We're rejoining our CSA from last year -- Lancaster Farm Fresh (www.lancasterfarmfresh.org). They are a group of many different farms and have pickup sites all around Philly, burbs, and in Lancaster County. We loved it last year, and we split a share with another family and got more than enough for us (though it was just my husband and me and our baby). What was nice about this CSA is that most (if not all) of the produce is organic, the selection every week was usually very varied, you got to select your own produce (but had limitations of how many of each kind of thing to take), and if one farm had a rough time, the CSA had many other farms to draw from so the risk is minimized a bit. The beginning and end of the season can be a bit limited (lots of salad greens, kale, etc.) but I also enjoyed working with seasonal veggies and stretching my skills a bit. LFF is also great in that they email you every week what veggies you'll get and also include recipes for the odd veggies so you can try new things with them (I even made Kimchi last year from a head of napa cabbage -- it's still with us, and tastes great!).

I know for sure that LFF still has shares available, we just signed up (finally) a few days ago, and they were able to expand their number of shares this year and are still looking for takers.

Good luck!

I have not but I have a lot of friends who have been doing this for years...Pennypack, I think.

I just wanted to pass along two websites.

One is to find local farmers www.buylocalpa.org

and the other is to find local CSA's

http://www.localharvest.org/

I'm not a member of a CSA now, but I used to be. I think with most CSA's there is a specific pick-up day or time. Depending on what is harvested at that time everyone gets a share of the crops.

I'm a member of the Sierra Club and we always want to support our local farmers so I hope you find one to join!

Good luck

Hi T.... I LOVE supporting the local CSA's. We are not doing one this year because we are trying to expand our own garden. YOu get a TON of food, there is a nice sense of community and you support local farmers, so everything is seasonal, fresh and organic. ITs worth the cost too, if you break it down by how many weeks you receive the produce. NOt sure where you live, but Jacks Farm (near the Coventry Mall area) is doing a CSA for the first time this year.... Good Luck with your decision

Yes, do it! It's great for people who don't eat out a lot, and for people who need to minimize time in a store. We were customers for years and now run our own program! Check out jadefamilyfarm.com to get an idea, but we are not in your area. Have fun and good luck!

D.

Hi T.,

We participated in a CSA program last year at a local farm and plan to do it again this year. Nothing like getting fresh produce right after it was picked, plus your are supporting a local business. I would encourage you to do it. We got a nice variety of produce each week.

My Best,
B. Egan
Healthy Homes - Healthy Families
We'll improve your life, your health and your environment!
www.shaklee.net/eganshaw

We've had a share in a CSA for three years and love it. I'd just like to point out that not all CSAs offer organic produce, as some of the other mamas have mentioned. Ours does not. For me it is more about supporting local farmers and reducing the number of miles from field to table.

When looking for a CSA, I would consider these things: Do you care about the food being organic? If so, you are going to have less of it, and it isn't always going to be beautiful like it is in the store. Where are the drop off/pick up locations? They usually have a couple hour slot one day a week, and if you miss it, you miss it. How much food do you want? Do they offer double shares, or half-shares? What kinds of foods do you want? Some of them offer meat, eggs, bread, milk, etc in addition to the produce. Some just have produce. What kinds of produce do they grow? Do they grow all their own produces? Ours doesn't, so they trade, say, potatoes, with another CSA for their apples so we don't have 10 pounds of potatoes a week and no apples.

The first year is a learning experience. Unless you are a professional chef, I suggest that you buy a good vegetable cookbook (I like the Cook's Illustrated one) because you will get stuff that you don't know what to do with. Also, if you have a deep freezer or a canner, it would be great to brush back up on your freezing/canning because there is often more stuff than you can eat. I've still got shredded cabbage and chopped green peppers and sliced apples in my freezer from the CSA last winter that when I need to cook with those things, I just pop them out and thaw them.

Hi T.,

What is a CSA Farm.

Just wanted to know. D.

I have never heard of the CSA Farm. Everyone makes it sound like a good idea, specially when prices are rising faster then the pay checks. Could someone let me know how u found out about these things? I enjoy having the fresh friut and fegies during any season. I do go to a local farm that is here is town and the corn is sweet, and I also go to Jim n Ralhs in Collegiville.

I joined the urban CSA in Philadelphia called Greensgrow. You might like to google them. Their website explains what a CSA is. I think it's a wonderful idea. It supports local farmers. YOu could never get the amount of food that you get for your share for the same price at Whole Foods. I think there is a CSA in Kimberton. You better hurry the CSA I joined in Philly is all sold out.

We do it and love it. It's an affordable way to get organic veggies without the price. Most of the farms around here aren't certified bc it's a long & expensive process but will let you explore the farm to make sure you agree with their practices & don't use chemicals, etc. Make sure you look at what vegetables your specific CSA has. Some have a greater variety and some just give you 5 different kinds of lettuce.

HI! we are starting our second year with the Sankanac CSA in French Creek near Phoenixville and LOVE it. We eat way better than we did before and our kids are now veggie addicts. Going to the farm is one of their favorite things to do. The only challenge with CSA's in this area is there seems to always be a wait list to join. I know ours is full for this year, maybe you could get on a wait list for next year? There is also the Phoenixville CSA and I have heard recently there may be one opening called Jack's Farm but I don't know anything about it. We have a sign up meeting in January every year, then the season starts around the end of May. For the summer CSA's it usually ends in October. We pick up every week and I leave with 2 -3 grocery bags full of wonderful organic produce. There is also some you pick, including herbs and fresh flowers. The offer the possibility to buy shares of beef, pork and chicken as well. I can't say enough about how much we enjoy every aspect of it and how wonderful all of the staff there are with kids. If you can find one with an opening - sign up and don't look back - you'll be so glad you did.

Hi T.,

I have done CSA the past 2 summers, and just signed up for my 3rd year. I absolutely love it! For mine, I go once a week at a scheduled pick-up time and fill my basket with my choice of fresh, organic produce. There are some limitations, such as when melons are in season you can usually only get 1 per family. Other than that, they have a very nice selection and I've tried vegetables that I probably wouldn't have otherwise like Swiss chard, which I now love. My kids even like to come with me and 'help' me pick out the vegetables. The first year, I also totaled up how much produce I received, and it turned out to be well worth it financially. You don't say where you are located, but if you are looking for a CSA in your area, try localharvest.org and you can do a search there. Best of luck!
M.

I would just like to comment that you should try to get specific referrals. I always thought joining a CSA sounded like a great idea. I finally did it a few years ago, but was very disappointed. Unlike some of the posters below, I didn't get to choose any of my produce. I simply picked up a bag each week that was pre-packed. Although I like to try new foods, I still got a lot that I never used, and not much of things I would have really liked (ie, even in mid/late summer, I'd get an entire bag of swiss chard and peppers and rarely got any tomatos or corn - my two favorite types of fresh produce). I also felt that the quality of the produce wasn't high - I suspected they took their top produce and delivered to to grocery stores and used the 2nds to fill the farm share packs.

I'm glad I tried it, but I decided that I was better off taking the same amount of $$ I spend on the farm share and visiting the local farmer's market each week and spending the $ there on items my family would actually eat.

I'm glad others had better experiences, and I hope you do too. I wouldn't say not to do it, but rather to get specific recommendations to find a good farm.