Last week we talked about which farmer’s market is the best; this week, Amanda is wondering about CSAs (community-supported agriculture):
I’m wondering if anyone has experience with a local CSA. I hear the quality is great and most things are organic. Are there better deals on organic produce in the stores, or is this fairly equivalent?
Any recommendations on great CSAs? Why did other readers like/dislike about beig a part of a CSA?
Can anyone help Amanda with some tips about the benefits of joining a CSA and how they work? If you have contact information (website, phone number) for any CSAs in Colorado Springs, that would be super helpful as well.
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I’ll chime in because I believe in the value of a CSA. Not financial value but community value. This is one of the best ways you can support local agriculture, local farmers, and expand your food exposure. CSAs require a monthly or yearly fee, and then you get a share in what they grow. There are also bread/grain CSAs and dairy CSAs. I don’t think a CSA is going to appeal to everyone who reads SpringsBargains, because it is not “cheap.” But this is a perfect examply of why cheaper is not always better–you can’t really get your food much fresher, you are giving back to your community, you are eating healthier, and you’re a part of a community that is supporting one another. You can easily Google CSA in Colorado Springs to get most of your questions answered, but I also suggest grantfarms.com for a great local CSA. Their website is very user friendly, and you can order online! I, personally, think everyone should try a CSA at some point in their lives… just to increase their knowledge about what they eat and where it comes from. Hope this helps.
Grant family farms is a great CSA. We got a “family share” ast year, but we were just drowning in veggies! We could not eat them fast enough. This year we got a smaller share and it is stil a lot. We pick it up once a week. We got $90.00 off of the cost by purchasing a “working share” which requires 18 hours of time working on the farm. We take 1 day with a famiy of 4 in the summertime and we get to learn a little, be involved, and see where ouor produce comes from. I love it!
sorry for all of the spelling errors above – I should proofread prior to sending!
Here is more info on CSA’s from a Grant Family Farms email:
I am writing to ask for your additional help in keeping Colorado produce close to home and ensuring the future of a Colorado farm. Every member of a veggie share is equal to about HALF a pallet of veggies being taken off the road annually from being sent out of state, and instead have placed them into your homes for you, your friends and family. You have been responsible in keeping Colorado produce in Colorado. Too many Colorado farms have to look outside of their home state to find homes for their hard work, due to so much produce coming in daily from California and Mexico. The survival of all farms is to rethink our buying habits as a whole, to severe the cord to grocery stores and the consolidation it promotes and look directly to the farm and the people actually growing the food we eat. You know this, we know this, so please help us tell others about what we know. We need your help today in bringing more local members to our farm, we have plenty more memberships available and lots of beautiful crops planted and ready to be part of our communities food system!
They are taking new members now.
I just checked into the pricing…and if they delivered in my area (which they don’t)….I would definitely join!!! The price for the working couple share averages out to just less than $20.00 per week….for me…that’s a good price! We eat a lot of veggies and they consume at lease 1/3-1/2 of my grocery bill! LMBO!! We eat all organic as well…..so I don’t get mine as “cheap” as most people. :0)
Thanks for all the info!!!
OH my!!!!!! They do deliver in my area!!! they have the wrong zip code though! They deliver right down the street from my house!!! Woo-Hoo!!!!!!
I have not done the CSA before but I do use Colorado Share and they get produce from local farmers when they can. If you don’t know about it its a great program. You can order online now as well and pay with credit card, check or food stamps.
https://www.foodshareamerica.com/index.cfm?action=how_does_share_work
For example this is the pkg for this month for $25.00 There warehouse sales are the best yes they are in denver but we bring 2-3 coolers and get canned food as well.
This is a Pantry Box they have many different boxes.
July 2010 Pantry Box $10.00
Good Taste Unsweetened Applesauce 15 oz.
Vine Ripe Sloppy Joe Sauce 15.5 oz.
Pasta Leonardo Cheddar Bacon Potato Dinner 5 oz.
Seneca Whole Kernel Corn 12 oz.
Double Luck Mixed Short Cut Green Beans 14.5 oz.
Valley Gem Vegetarian Baked Beans 16 oz.
Pasta Sanita Penne Rigate 16 oz.
Our Specialty Macaroni & Cheese 7.25 oz.
Sardines 4.2 oz.
Peanut Butter 12 oz.
I Think CSA’s are a great option and at some point I would probably do one. The only downside I have heard -from a friend who has done it- was getting vegetables and sometimes in great quantity that perhaps their family didn’t like or had never cooked much with, requiring some ingenuity in using all the vegetables given :-)
She said they got enough that she was able to put and/or freeze what they couldn’t eat and they had “fresh” produce through most of the winter as well.
For me, I decided this year, that $20 a week or so I could better spend getting veggies I needed and wanted and just watch the weekly sales for stock up times- and do the Farmers Market as well. But, there were some other factors that contributed to that decision as well, I think overall a CSA could be a really good option for getting good local produce.
I did the Grant Farms CSA last year. I loved:
-learning to cook new veggies
-a healthier, organic veggie-focused diet
-supporting a local farm
I disliked:
-getting more than I could use – stressful!
-not being able to exclude the couple of veggies I don’t like
This year I’m using Country Roots Farm’s CSA. They are located out of Pueblo, and buying in gives you credit at their farmer’s market stand: America the Beautiful Park on Wednesdays, 3pm-7pm.
This CSA is perfect for me! The veggies are excellent, clean, delicious and fresh. You can use credit towards eggs, honey, beans and sausage too. I love being able to choose the amount and type of veggies I want each week!
It’s just like going to the Farmer’s Market normally, except I’m also supporting the farm and I don’t have to bring cash :)
We were part of the Country Roots Farm CSA for a couple of years and we loved it. The only reason we are not doing it this year is we have moved to Monument and their pickup location is America The Beautiful park. We did an individual share which was just about right for my family of 3; I still bought fresh fruit from Sunflower each week but the CSA provided all my vegetables. They also offer a discounted price if you work the farm. I thought the CSA was very economical (and last year was a rough year because of the early hail storms) and we got to try a lot of produce we normally wouldn’t have.
Thanks for the info on Grant Family Farms. I will look into them.
Also – they all have “canning” shares, bread shares, fresh cut flower shares, fruit & egg shares that you cann add to your veggie share.
We are doing the CSA at Venetucci this year and it is pratically right in our own backyard. They only have a certain number of shares available and I don’t know if they still have any, but you can get your name on the waiting list for next year.
We have now received two weeks of our CSA and I have been really impressed with the quality and quantity we have received so far. The one thing we received that I did not want to eat, I gave to a friend who would eat it. It has really caused me to be really resourceful and creative with my dinner preparation as some I the things we have received I have never even heard of, but they provide you with a description and recipes for the less common items. I have to say that we received the tastiest Sugar snap peas I have ever had in my life and I know that they were just picked hours before.
We thought this CSA was more reasonable priced and they have three pick-up locations and days to choose from in Colorado Springs.
We did the Venetucci Farm CSA last year. http://www.ppcf.org/CSA I think they are full this year. We enjoyed it and I do like the idea of buying locally etc. The problems we had with it were veggies we don’t eat a lot of, although they helped out a lot with this by sending out a newsletter with suggested recipes, etc. It could sometimes be a lot of something that we liked but weren’t crazy about. I think I ate enough Swiss Chard that I am good for a couple years. I think this would be better to do when our kiddos are bigger, will eat more and not be quite as picky. I also don’t have tons of room in my freezer and didn’t think about freezing until later in the season, so that would have helped too. I also wish that they had had a pick up further north b/c I got tired of driving to America the Beautiful park but they might have one further north this year. If you were out of town a week you could have your friends pick up your share or pick up at a different location later in the week, but if you didn’t do one of those you just missed our on your share because they of course couldn’t save your veggies for you. It was also fun a couple weeks we picked up our share at the farm and got to walk around and see the animals, etc.
I would do it again in the future but for this year decided to see how I could do just buying things on sale at Sunflower etc.
Thanks everyone! That gives me a great start. I appreciate the personal recommendations from the CSAs you all have partnered with as opposed to going into one blindly. Thanks again!
Do you all know, do the farmers markets prefer cash or will they take a local check? I don’t go to farmers markets as often as I should, but I’m trying to get there more this summer. And all this info about fresh produce and colorado grown is great. Thanks.
We belong to the Javernick CSA. They are in Canyon City and practice organic growing — I know Vennitucci and Grants do organic as well.
We did Grants winter share last year and liked it – lots of potatoes, beets and squash along with wheat flour and dried beans. Good stuff, local organic and cheaper than you’d pay in the stores (for comparable veggies)
The thing I like about Javernick is the variation of produce. This is our first year with them, so we’ll see if the variety continues. I’d never heard of garlic scapes or salad turnips, but we’ve tried them this year and they are great.
Check them out http://www.javernickfamilyfarms.com/
A reader just sent me info on this new CSA: http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ It’s just starting in Littleton!
This bountiful baskets is not a CSA, but a coop. A CSA is with an actual farm that a person pays into to receive a share of the crop of that farm. This coop purchases products from other farms and other areas and puts together baskets that can be purchased. I just thought I would clarify for those actually looking for a CSA.
I just signed up for Grant Family Farms canning half-share- it is $210 and they will let you pay in payments but its $5 extra per payment- you get to choose 5 bulk things to get that you can freeze or can. I will be getting 80lbs of apples, 50 lbs of potatoes, 40lbs of tomatoes and 22lbs of broccoli- everything is organic and it works out to just over $1/lb for everything- GREAT deal I think and it will keep us fed all winter!!