Are you a CSA Member?

[EarthFirst]

Are you a member of a Community Supported Agriculture CoOp?

We're looking at our membership renewal for the upcoming season, and I noticed that today is CSA Day!

Share your experiences here!

Be well...

[hlthe2b]

1. whew, I thought you were asking re: CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA (CSA) membership...

[EarthFirst]

2. Kinda frightening that this is where are minds go nowadays, isn't it?

Sigh.

[hlthe2b]

3. yup.... I saw a pickup truck with confederate and US flag in liberal Fort Collins yesterday

While I saw that alot in areas around Atlanta and there are surely enclaves in CO, it was a shock to see it in a progressive college town.

[samnsara]

8. i even see them in Seattle....

[Mendocino]

10. I saw a

deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. No, it's the older and more widely known meaning of CSA.

But, there's only so many three-letter-combinations, so re-use is not surprising.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. I was a member of one a couple of years ago but didn't renew.

The problems for me were:

1. I just couldn't eat all those vegetables.
2. I froze or pickled some but I don't have enough freezer space.
3. There were too many root vegetables and members of the cabbage family, which I hate - cabbages the size of your head; large amounts of cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, which I won't eat on a bet; turnips and rutabagas and a few things I didn't even recognize, all of which were not my cup of tea.
4. And a whole lot of onions, which I also hate.
5. Not enough of the tasty vegetables like tomatoes, green beans and corn.

If you have a large family that likes a wide variety of vegetables they are probably a good deal. I can get the ones I like in quantities I can manage at a local farmer's market, so I started going there for vegetables and didn't renew the CSA membership.

[LisaM]

5. Pretty much my experience exactly (except for the onions, which I love!)

Too many gimmicky things like purple potatoes that were sometimes a challenge to use up quickly, and not enough of my staples (including onions, which there were very few of). Never anything like radishes or cucumbers. I shared it with two other people and there was still too much stuff overall, but if it happened to include something like asparagus that we all wanted, two people got shorted. And we invariably ended up with the infamous bag of unidentifiable bitter greens, which we gave to a woman from Japan in our office who was either too polite to say no, or who maybe really did like them.

I felt as if I was paying for someone's vanity garden. We did it for about three years, then quit.

[Wounded Bear]

6. I'm sure it depends a lot on your area/location...

some things just won't grow well in some climates.

I live alone, so it would probably lead to me getting more than I could handle, too. Although I do know there are a few around where I live, and I've known people who were members. They certainly have their place, and it does help the whole eat local produce meme.

[Achilleaze]

7. With a massive KGOP shitstorm hitting America's farms, it's a smart move

to do whatever you can to support your local farmers.

This just in from the United Farm Workers:
"According to researchers at University of California, Davis, approximately 70% of all the farm workers here who put food on America’s table are undocumented. The most recent set of orders the department of Homeland Security released on Tuesday to increase immigration enforcement puts almost all of the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants at risk of being deported."

The KGOP is totally screwing over America's farm and food chain.

[Mendocino]

11. What I don't grow in the backyard,

I either get from some neighbors, a barter deal, or from the local Farmers Market.

I grow some sprouts and lettuces during the winter, but rely on an organic market non-seasonally. I find that I waste less without a CSA because I live alone.

[phylny]

12. I was several years ago.

It felt good to support the CSA, especially since it employed adults and teens with disabilities. There were problems: First, there was not a local CSA and I had to join one at work, so if I wasn't working on the pick up day, a coworker had to grab it. Second the pick up hours were greatly curtailed, which didn't always match up with my schedule. Finally, at times the share was very scarce, barely enough for my husband and me for a meal.

The thought is great, but in my area it wasn't worth it to me.