I used to belong to a gleaners group. We were invited to farms and orchards and vineyards and sometimes private home gardens. Part of what we picked went to our low income elderly and/or disabled "adoptees" and part we kept for ourselves. If we had an abundance -- which we usually did -- we shared with the food pantry, women's shelter, the mission or half-way house. We got all kinds of produce that either was too expensive for my budget -- like Asian Pears, or that wasn't even available in the stores like fancy grapes from a vineyard. Other than bananas and citrus I never had to buy produce. Besides what we picked the farmers sometimes gave us items they had already picked. It was a win all around -- the farmer got a tax credit and got help with clearing the field, low income folks got high quality food -- much of it organic, and I was able to make a contribution to the community when I didn't have money to make charitable contributions.
Thank you for this video! I didn't know about CSA's and just googled it. I discovered that there are several local, organic farmers that offer this program. I'm going to try it! I love the idea that it supports local agriculture, helps me obtain healthier foods, AND minimizes packaging waste. What a great idea!!
We LOVE our CSA. The new season won't start until May and I am in withdrawal. LOL! But, I do have a lot of last season's produce in the freezer to get me through the long winter.
We love our CSA! We have been members for over ten years. We live in Nova Scotia, Canada, and ours is a year-round CSA. I also wait until we get our weekly share to plan meals and buy any "top up groceries". :)
Our CSA is just 25 weeks of the year. I'm amazed being that far North that your farmer can sustain a year-round market. Hoop houses are amazing, though and extend the season at least 5 or 6 weeks.
I love "my" farm! CSAs started here in Western MA so we have plenty. Some are quite pricey as Robin mentioned but with research I found a great one. Ours has three sizes, (Single, Regular and Plus) and I split a "Share Plus" with my sister and her family, this will be our third year. Ours is an "on farm" CSA so we pick up right at the farm and there are items in the share barn (choices!) as well as pick-your-own items. It is an amazing value! One question I have.... how do you factor the cost of the CSA into your overall grocery/food budget. I figured out that the cost both during the season and over the course of the whole year -- do you think it makes more sense to lower my budget a small amount throughout the whole year (about 25% per week) or a large amount during just those weeks (about 75% per week)?
We divide the cost of the CSA throughout the entire year and take $42.00 a month out of our grocery budget to pay for it. (Our share is $500 a year). I know we don't get the boxes for 52 weeks. But, we do wind up with a lot of items in the freezer to use over the winter months and it would take too great of a percentage of our grocery budget if we divided the cost over the 25 weeks that we get the boxes.
@@UndertheMedian -- I am reviewing my food budget for the new year and that is exactly what I was thinking as well. Thanks for the input/confirmation. Mine is 387 for 22 weeks, so slightly less weekly but I am just one person so it is a large percentage of my food budget.
I bought a 1/150 "share" in a local CSA for $600. It was a poor decision. 600 X 150 = $90,000. I wondered how you can run a farm on less than $100K/year. You can't. I got a pitiful quantity of very good quality organic produce. If the farmer had planted just one acre of potatoes I should have received 150-300 pounds at harvest. I got about 10 pounds. And the pick up point was not next door. I bought into a large garden, not a small farm. On a positive note we were exposed to some vegetables we had never eaten before. But for our lifestyle, both working full time, Blue Apron or Hello Fresh worked out much better. And that was delivered with a meat entree.
Wow! I'm sorry to hear that. That is a lot of money. I know the cost does vary across the nation. So, you probably get better prices by shopping the farmers markets directly.
@@UndertheMedian love the farmers market. I can pick and choose. FYI I really, really don't like eggplant and Malakhi doesn't either. I have tried but it's a no go
yay! My husband and I just joined a local CSA. Ours even comes with flowers in the summer...so fun!
I used to belong to a gleaners group. We were invited to farms and orchards and vineyards and sometimes private home gardens. Part of what we picked went to our low income elderly and/or disabled "adoptees" and part we kept for ourselves. If we had an abundance -- which we usually did -- we shared with the food pantry, women's shelter, the mission or half-way house. We got all kinds of produce that either was too expensive for my budget -- like Asian Pears, or that wasn't even available in the stores like fancy grapes from a vineyard. Other than bananas and citrus I never had to buy produce. Besides what we picked the farmers sometimes gave us items they had already picked. It was a win all around -- the farmer got a tax credit and got help with clearing the field, low income folks got high quality food -- much of it organic, and I was able to make a contribution to the community when I didn't have money to make charitable contributions.
That is awesome! I've never heard of this, but I love it!
Thank you for this video! I didn't know about CSA's and just googled it. I discovered that there are several local, organic farmers that offer this program. I'm going to try it! I love the idea that it supports local agriculture, helps me obtain healthier foods, AND minimizes packaging waste. What a great idea!!
We LOVE our CSA. The new season won't start until May and I am in withdrawal. LOL! But, I do have a lot of last season's produce in the freezer to get me through the long winter.
We love our CSA! We have been members for over ten years. We live in Nova Scotia, Canada, and ours is a year-round CSA. I also wait until we get our weekly share to plan meals and buy any "top up groceries". :)
Our CSA is just 25 weeks of the year. I'm amazed being that far North that your farmer can sustain a year-round market. Hoop houses are amazing, though and extend the season at least 5 or 6 weeks.
I love "my" farm! CSAs started here in Western MA so we have plenty. Some are quite pricey as Robin mentioned but with research I found a great one. Ours has three sizes, (Single, Regular and Plus) and I split a "Share Plus" with my sister and her family, this will be our third year. Ours is an "on farm" CSA so we pick up right at the farm and there are items in the share barn (choices!) as well as pick-your-own items. It is an amazing value!
One question I have.... how do you factor the cost of the CSA into your overall grocery/food budget. I figured out that the cost both during the season and over the course of the whole year -- do you think it makes more sense to lower my budget a small amount throughout the whole year (about 25% per week) or a large amount during just those weeks (about 75% per week)?
We divide the cost of the CSA throughout the entire year and take $42.00 a month out of our grocery budget to pay for it. (Our share is $500 a year). I know we don't get the boxes for 52 weeks. But, we do wind up with a lot of items in the freezer to use over the winter months and it would take too great of a percentage of our grocery budget if we divided the cost over the 25 weeks that we get the boxes.
@@UndertheMedian -- I am reviewing my food budget for the new year and that is exactly what I was thinking as well. Thanks for the input/confirmation. Mine is 387 for 22 weeks, so slightly less weekly but I am just one person so it is a large percentage of my food budget.
I bought a 1/150 "share" in a local CSA for $600. It was a poor decision. 600 X 150 = $90,000. I wondered how you can run a farm on less than $100K/year. You can't. I got a pitiful quantity of very good quality organic produce. If the farmer had planted just one acre of potatoes I should have received 150-300 pounds at harvest. I got about 10 pounds. And the pick up point was not next door. I bought into a large garden, not a small farm. On a positive note we were exposed to some vegetables we had never eaten before. But for our lifestyle, both working full time, Blue Apron or Hello Fresh worked out much better. And that was delivered with a meat entree.
Oh, and the gleaners group was free to belong to.
Heirloom tomatoes are expensive in the store
They are a little pricy at the farmers market, too. That's why I'm always excited when we get them in our CSA box. It's such a treat.
Too expensive here to be worth it. Over $1000 per season spring and fall
Wow! I'm sorry to hear that. That is a lot of money. I know the cost does vary across the nation. So, you probably get better prices by shopping the farmers markets directly.
@@UndertheMedian love the farmers market. I can pick and choose. FYI I really, really don't like eggplant and Malakhi doesn't either. I have tried but it's a no go
What area do you live in?
@@carriew92 Huntsville Alabama