New England CSA?

[katygirl]

I am so happy to have found a CSA in my area. It's my first time joining one, kind of stinks that I pick the most rainy miserable summer to join a CSA but hopefully the weather will make a turn for the better soon (it's got to! I'm wearing jeans and a sweatshirt as I type this and it's JUNE!!)

Anyway, we just got a CSA member email postponing the start date another week :( no ones fault but good old mother natures. Has anyone else in New England started theirs yet? What should I expect for a first pick up in this miserable month of June?

[beckms]

I'm in Natick, and I'm interested in CSAs in the area...would you mind giving me some info about yours?

thanks!

[melis104]

what is CSA?

[KathrynY]

melis104 - CSA stands for "Community Supported Agriculture". You can probably find more threads/posts on the subject by running a search - I know it's been discussed a few times before. Here's a link (http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/csastate.htm) to a site where you can search for a CSA farm near you.

katygirl - I really sympathize on the miserable weather!! We tried to join a CSA this year but the one closest to us was filled. :( And with all this rain my yard is a mud pit, so no veggies soon for us!

[slknight]

Originally posted by katygirl

Anyway, we just got a CSA member email postponing the start date another week :( no ones fault but good old mother natures. Has anyone else in New England started theirs yet? What should I expect for a first pick up in this miserable month of June?

Ours starts this week. The first pick-up is tomorrow. I'll let you know what we get. I expect it to be mostly lettuce and other greens.

[Karen in VA]

I'm in VA, not New England, but our csa has been going for 3 weeks now. So far it has been salad greens, cooking greens, spring onions, leeks, radishes, beets etc. We've had a lot of rain and cool temps, so they told us the summer crops will be a bit delayed. I imagine most of the east coast is the same.

[gertdog]

I'm in central NJ and our first pickup was last week. We got LOTS of lettuce, spinach, arugula, sorrel, chives, mustard greens, and lemon balm.

My husband should actually be picking up this week's share as I type- I am traveling for work this week. I told him his biggest challenge will be remembering what each thing is so he can tell me when I get home! :)

[Lrimerman]

We have had 4 disbursements so far, mostly salad greens, beet greens, turnips and turnip greens, radishes, scallions, tat soi, tomatoes (a few small ones), herbs, and we can get perennial plants if we want from her garden.

I'll see what we get tomorrow.

Lisa

[katygirl]

Thanks for the responses guys! Rebecca, the name of the CSA I belong to is called Middle Earth Farm. It's in Amesbury Ma, which is about 25 minutes from my house. It is $170- and runs for about 20 weeks. They have all organic veggies and fruits and herbs too. They don't have a website, I found the name of it on line on a CSA locator site. I think I just did a "Massachusetts and CSA Farm" Google search. I'm thinking you are a bit too far for the Middle Earth one but if you want I can give a name and number to call. Just ask.

Oh, and Susan, what did you end up getting this week?

[slknight]

Originally posted by katygirl
It's in Amesbury Ma, which is about 25 minutes from my house. It is $170- and runs for about 20 weeks.

Oh, and Susan, what did you end up getting this week?

Wow! $170 is really cheap. We're paying $450, although I'm going to split it with a friend of mine. Maybe next year I'll drive to Amesbury. It's only an hour from here. And I'm already driving 30 min to my CSA.

This is what we got this week (first week):
1 head of red oakleaf lettuce
1 head of winter density (bib-romaine type lettuce)
1/3 lb. mixed salad greens
1 bunch radishes
1/3 lb. sorrel leaves
1 bunch of mustard greens
1/4 lb. rhubarb
1 bunch of cilantro
1 bunch of chive flowers

[katygirl]

Looks good! Wow, $450.00 we'll have to post what we get each week to see if the amount of food is commparable. I also forgot to mention they are going to have two pick your own flower gardens as well.

[gdnr77]

I live about 15 minutes from Amesbury, but did not find the farm you mentioned when I was looking for a CSA. I joined one in Stratham NH, and it has been going on for three weeks so far. An example of what I have been getting is this week's share: I bunch radishes, 1# rhubarb, 1 bunch garlic greens, and one small head of baby pak choy. I'm surely hoping the shares get bigger as the time goes on. I pay $55/ month, for a 1/2 share. I'd love to know how much produce you get, the farm you found is so much more convenient for me.

[lakelady1]

This is very interesting . . . I'm glad melis104 asked the big question (I thought CSA was Confederate States of America or Confederate Sons of America) and the link was provided.

Karen, in northern Virginia, which CSA do you use and are you happy with it? There is an Olin-Fox Farm and a Piedmont Organics which both service my area (Alexandria). Have you heard anything about them?

What should I look for in general when choosing a CSA? All your expert advice is appreciated.

I think you have sold me on this!!

[Chris415]

Originally posted by katygirl
Has anyone else in New England started theirs yet? What should I expect for a first pick up in this miserable month of June?

Hi Katy,
I think I'm probably the furthest north of everyone here, I live in northern VT, and I joined an organic CSA for the first time this year. Although our first pick-up was supposed to be last week, it was postponed to this week, due to the crummy weather. But this is what I got--lots o' greens! :) Granted, she does have some greenhouses.

3/4 lb.mesclun
a bunch of radishes with greens
a head of lettuce
1 lb. spinach
a bunch of kale
some alfalfa sprouts

Hope yours starts soon!
Chris

[katygirl]

Chris, looks like you got a good bunch of greens! gdnr77, Middle Earth Farm was tough to find! I did a ton of interent searching and found it on only one site, which kind of mentioned it in passing. I then found the address, and then found the number of the person living at the address and then called the farm. I'll keep you updated on what I get, that way you can make your decision for next year.

[gdnr77]

Thanks, Katy, I'd love to know how the Amesbury farm is. This is new to me, but the positive things I read about CSA's keeps me optimistic that as soon as it stops raining...lol, if it ever does, we'll really get a taste of what CSA's are all about.

[Karen in VA]

Originally posted by lakelady1

Karen, in northern Virginia, which CSA do you use and are you happy with it? There is an Olin-Fox Farm and a Piedmont Organics which both service my area (Alexandria). Have you heard anything about them?

What should I look for in general when choosing a CSA? All your expert advice is appreciated.

I think you have sold me on this!!

The one I belong to is called Fresh and Local CSA. I think this is only their 2nd or 3rd year. I found out about it through some friends in our moms club. They started up a pickup site in Arlington this year. The website is www.freshandlocalcsa.com I am splitting a share this year to wiht a friend to test it out. It's only been 3 weeks but so far so good - as well as can be expected with our rainy spring. It is all organic. I haven't heard of the two you mentioned, but didn't do a whole lot of research, just sort of stumbled upon this opportunity. I am pretty sure the Washington Post had another listing of csa's earlier this yea in the food section. They did this last year too, and the listings were on their webpage. Hope this helps.

[lakelady1]

Thank you! I'm anxious to give it a try. Went to the local Farmer's Market last night, just as they were closing, and got some gorgeous mustard greens and the prettiest white onions. Went home and made a sweet and sour concoction of mustard greens with bacon, onions, vinegar, brown sugar, and egg to thicken. Ate the whole thing!!

[katygirl]

Just wanted to say it is CSA time again! I just mailed in my check! They upped the price at the Amesbury farm I go to. They said the price increase means more organic fruit this year! Yeah!! I'm not sure if they are taking new members but it you want I can give you email address of the person in charge. I am soooo looking forward to farm fresh fruits and veggies :)

Let's try to do a weekly CSA thread this year, we can tell each other what we got and what we plan to do with our loot (good, god am I am dork!!)

[scassidy]

Hi there --

Oh man, reading this on a totally grey day.... Our first pickup isn't scheduled until June 3, and it goes for 22 weeks. We have a half share -- a bunch of parents at our kids' elementary school got together to try it out.

We're members of Waltham Community Farms (http://www.communityfarms.org/csa.htm) this year. I'll have to let you know how it goes, since this is our first year. I can't remember how much it costs!

Several years ago we had a share in a farm run by a college buddy of mine and her husband -- and that spoiled us for life. They're still active in CSA in New Hampshire (and the nicest people in the world, as well), but mostly they supply seedlings to organic farmers (tens of thousands of seedlings, as a matter of fact!).

[cab321]

I just joined a CSA for the first time ever! I can't wait. But like you guys my shares don't start until June. I bought a 40 week share - my farm ferments vegetables (homemade kimchi!) and they keep things in a root cellar. A weekly CSA thread sounds like fun - count me in.

Oh I almost forgot - this (http://www.nativeofferings.com/) is my farm.

[tbb113]

Can I play too? I didn't join a CSA, but I did join an organic produce delivery called West Side Organics (http://www.westsideorganics.com/home/). They deliver in the SF Bay Area either every week or every two weeks. I picked every two weeks since the boys don't eat that many fruits or vegetables ;) My delivery days are Thursday.

[gertdog]

I'll play too- we sent in our check for the local CSA a few weeks ago. I'd love to do a regular thread to hear what's turning up in CSA baskets in different regions.

Our CSA is run by Rutgers students. Last year was our first year with this farm and I was very pleased by the amount and quality of the produce. Then I found out that they considered it a "low production" year- can't wait to see what the harvest looks like this year!

My CSA (http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~njuep/csof/index.html)

[tbb113]

This is supposed to be my box tomorrow. It costs $29.00 including delivery.

Bananas (1 Qty, 2 lbs each)
Beets, Red Bunch (1 Qty)
Broccoli (1 Qty)
Carrots, Bunch (1 Qty)
Cucumbers, English (1 Qty)
Lettuce, Romaine (1 Qty)
Onions, Yellow (1 Qty, 1 lbs each)
Oranges, Valencia (1 Qty, 4 pieces each)
Pears, Bartlett (1 Qty, 4 pieces each)
Strawberries (8.8oz) (1 Qty)
Tangerines, Minneola (1 Qty, 1 lbs each)
Tomatoes, Roma (1 Qty, 1 lbs each)