The garden and the CSA have officially wound up for the season and it's time to bust out my final harvest home tally spreadsheets.
All I knew about CSAs were that you paid an upfront sum to receive a box of veggies that are locally, organically grown for a period of weeks. Our summer CSA was 20 weeks on the dot, and we did not need to participate in any of the growing/weeding/harvesting work. Each CSA is slightly different though!
I recorded everything we received with the intention of price matching it at the grocery at the end of the season to compare costs. I gave up on that idea though, because the price of spring produce at the grocery is obviously a lot higher now than it would be in June. Wouldn't wanna sway the results with inaccurate data!
So I'll just ramble. Which is probably more interesting amusing anyway.
The CSA:
1. Variety! We had over 40 different items throughout the season. Some were things we were familiar with and some were things I would be happy never to see in my kitchen again. Flax seeds, I know you are good for me, but don't think you're ever getting in my house again.
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| Killer Kohlrabi |
2. Lack of quantity! Either we eat a crazy amount more than what is suggested for four people per week, or else I imagined the size of the box to be much larger. :) We still had to go buy lots of veggies to round out our vegetable intake for the week.
3. Price! We paid around $20 a week for the CSA share. I was also going to a local veggie stand nearby to supplement, and it seems to me I would have been able to buy the same items & amounts for less cost.
3. Price! We paid around $20 a week for the CSA share. I was also going to a local veggie stand nearby to supplement, and it seems to me I would have been able to buy the same items & amounts for less cost.
The Garden:
1. Grew what we love! The plus side here is that everything that grew in our garden, I knew we loved to eat. We didn't have any vegetables that I had to ID on the Internet. :) I was also able to grow loads and loads of extras that were frozen or canned to use over the winter.
2. Battle of the Deer! That one particularly pesky fawn better have grown up into a stunning buck on all the fresh veggies he stole from my garden. Although I managed to fight back and still get a fair amount from the garden, I wasn't able to harvest as much as I'd planned thanks to the deer.
3. Work! Keeping up the garden is a lot less convenient that just picking up a box of veggies each week. Fortunately, I love being out in the dirt, weeding, harvesting, and generally puttering around. Except when the occasional frog jumps out and stops my heart for a few seconds. :)
The Conclusion:
We won't be doing the CSA again.
I enjoy working in my garden, growing only what I know we'll use, and I can do it for less cost. I also ended up buying more produce that I could can/freeze. So for us, it makes more sense to not join next summer.
But if you don't enjoy gardening (or gardening on such a big scale), and you are looking for a convenient, easy way to get more fresh and local variety in your diet, a CSA may be right for you!
Did you join a CSA this summer? What did you think of it?
I'd actually been wondering how the CSA worked out for you all--I joined one this summer, too, and wondered how other people's experiences had been. For me it didn't work well in the long run for the opposite reason. I'm single and used up my entire produce budget on the CSA veggies and then didn't have anything left in the budget to buy lemons or scallions or whatever would have turned the veggies into a RECIPE. Having to cook the most perishable things right away was a problem, too. Sometimes that just wasn't convenient, and yet there they were, showing up on Friday anyway. My CSA was big on garlic--I still have 15 heads of garlic in the pantry. How much can one person eat in a season and still have friends left at the end??? The quality was normally really good, though, and good value compared to what I could get at Whole Foods or the local co-op.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you survived the kohlrabi--and the deer and the frogs! And thanks for doing this comparison--it's really useful and interesting, even though our circumstances are so different.
I was curious about the CSA because I haven't heard of any here. I have the problems with the deer and the weeds and the time with my own garden, so I supplement with the farmer's market. (Which here has prices that rivals the grocery stores.) The best thing is always your own garden, I think, IF that is possible!
ReplyDeleteI used to get an organic veg box delievered, which isn't quite the same thing, but your post did remind me of it because of the times I had to learn a new vegetable! Sometimes this was good - celeriac, Jerusalem artichokes. Sometimes this was bad - Kholrabi... But overall, like you, I don't think anything can beat growing what you know you like to eat yourself. Despite the hard work, occasional failures and never ending battles with pests.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your description of the deer :)
ReplyDeleteLike Janet, we used to get a box of locally grown veggies delivered. We got some unusual veggies that I didn't care for, but the quality was usually outstanding. I've never eaten peaches that amazing in my life! It frankly ruined me for most peaches. Sadly, it got so expensive that it wasn't worth it and we had to cancel it. Next year I hope to grow a lot more in my veggie garden. Thankfully I love gardening!
I had never heard of the CSA before but apparently they are in my area. I have usually bought at the farmers market and our local grocer who purchases locally grown produce....now I try to grow my own and sometimes I do OK and sometimes I do great....I am like you and enjoy the fun of growing my own...
ReplyDeleteHa! I'm in the process of evaluating this exact same dilemma (and formulating a post about it)! Thanks for sharing your thoughts...they're very similar to my own!
ReplyDeleteNice post, I did a similar evaluation and came to the same conclusion! There are many great CSAs in my area, but there's just two of us at home, so I thought it would be more economical to grow what we like and not potentially waste all the extra produce we might get from the CSA. It was great of you to support a local farm. :)
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