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CSA 2022


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I thought I would start a new topic for this year's CSA baskets.  I signed up for one a couple of years ago but wasn't too thrilled with the variety of produce I was getting so skipped a couple of years.  The people I signed up with have worked really hard to be able to expand the variety of their offerings so I signed up again this year.  As there are only the two of us, I signed up for a share every two weeks.  I received the first one today and it is very early in the season so I wasn't expecting too much.  What I received was 2 pints of strawberries, 2 beautiful heads of cauliflower, 2 bags of carrots and a head of romaine lettuce.  I'm  looking forward to future deliveries.

 

One thing that interests me is the variety different eGulleters get.  Obviously our growing season is a lot shorter so we aren't getting tomatoes in June.  Also, we will never, ever see citrus fruit.   

 

What are you getting in your baskets?

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The only CSA I signed up for is from my florist. Every 2 weeks, I collect an arrangement from the farmers' market. The arrangement fits in a simple glass vase which is wrapped in newspaper, then placed in a plastic one gallon bucket. Next time I go back to the market, I give him back the bucket and vase.

 

I don't do any vegetable CSA because I like neither radishes nor turnips. 🙄

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I joined my CSA when the pandemic started.  It's once weekly for the basic share, and at various times of the year, they offer add ons for an extra cost: mushroom share, tomato share, sweet corn and fruit share, and sunflower share.  Overall, we are happy with it.   The delivery day varies based on the season, and this season it is on Fridays.  Here's what I got this week.  I detest kohlrabi and green bell peppers, so will be giving those to my mother.  She's probably getting the cucumbers, lettuce, and mushrooms this week too, because we are going out of town on Sunday (assuming everyone passes their covid tests to leave the country--we all had it a few weeks ago so there's an outside chance we will still test positive on the test though we are all recovered).    Most of the other veggies are going into a curry I am making for dinner tonight.  

 

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On 7/10/2022 at 2:02 PM, TdeV said:

The only CSA I signed up for is from my florist. Every 2 weeks, I collect an arrangement from the farmers' market. The arrangement fits in a simple glass vase which is wrapped in newspaper, then placed in a plastic one gallon bucket. Next time I go back to the market, I give him back the bucket and vase.

 

I don't do any vegetable CSA because I like neither radishes nor turnips. 🙄

 

I don't like radishes or turnips either except for hakurei turnips.  They are small, white turnips and don't have that strong, bitter taste.  They are delicious.  I think you'd be pleasantly surprised if you were to try them.

 

The way my CSA operates is that before the season starts, they send you a list of what they produce.  You rate everything according to your preferences on a scale of 1 to 5.  Thus, 1 means don't ever send me this, 5 means I love the stuff, while a three means send it sometimes.  A few days before delivery they send you a list of what you will be getting based on your preferences.  You are allowed to switch something on your list to something not on your favourite list with whatever else they have available.  In my first basket, having previously said I would like parsley 'sometimes" I switched it for romaine lettuce as I did not need parsley.  That system works well.  I will never be offered a radish or a turnip.  After reading @liamsaunt's post I'll add that you can buy extras for an additional charge.

Edited by ElsieD
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I'm  not sure how many years we have done the CSA program, but this year we opted for pick-up on alternate weeks. We could get delivery but we enjoy the drive to the farm, which is very near Kitty Coleman Beach Provincial Park and the Woodland Gardens.  

 

When we first moved to this area, we participated in a CSA from a farm north of town, but it was far enough away that we tired of the drive after a few years. Then we bought in with a collective of nearby farms for another few years. They were small farms and would supplement each other's offerings and were successful enough that they expanded and now at least 3 of them have their own independent CSA boxes available. Our current supplier (Mariette) is one of those and we can sometimes visit with her as well as all three of her dogs when we go to the farm. 

 

When we pick up at the farm, there is a great little farmstand where the CSA produce is stored but also additional items are available for purchase, depending on what's been growing best. Mariette also sells at the Saturday morning Farmers' Market. 

 

Some of the items we have received so far include items such as lettuces, Spring salad greens, arugula, culinary lavender, dill, basil, strawberries, kale, radishes, salad turnips. We had an unusually cool and wet Spring and many crops were delayed. We are still getting snap peas for example and they would usually be done by now because of the heat. 

 

Our last box looked like this. The cherries are from the BC Okanagan and were purchased separately as were the Warba potatoes. Otherwise there was a gorgeous head of leaf lettuce, a few zukes, a few cukes, kohlrabi, garlic scapes, radishes and snap peas. Greenhouse tomatoes. 

 

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We can't pick and choose what we want in advance but there is a 'swap box' where you can exchange some items for others. I picked a couple of kohlrabi in place of more arugula. 

 

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Forgot about this topic and didn't take a photo of last week's CSA, but it included tatsoi, gai lan, celery, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, cucumbers, snap peas and a bag of Spring greens. 

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