Siobhan Perricone > writes:
> Yes, we split with another couple. They tended to like the things we
> didn't, and vice versa. It was really nice getting the fresh produce so
> regularly, though it was challenging trying to plan meals around it when I
> didn't know what I'd have each week, and we both work full time.
>
> I heartily recommend it.

I agree, the big challenge is actually using everything before it
goes.

I used to regularly do CSAs, and recommend them highly for folks to at
least try out, especially if you like vegetables and spend lots of
money bringing home giant baskets of produce from the store. However,
I ended up not doing one the last few years for two reasons:

1. I also grow a lot of my own vegetables, and unless you deliberately
grow something different than your CSA, this can result in vegetable
overkill. Nothing like pulling 5 lbs of potatoes from your garden,
and then finding out that this weeks CSA basket contains another 10
lbs of potatoes. Yeah, you can preserve some stuff, but often that
only delays the problem (there is a limit on the number of patty pan
squashes two people can eat in a year...)

2. I'm a regular at two area farmers markets (Norwich and Lebanon, for
the NH/VT folks out there), and found that the combination of the CSA
and my own garden meant that I already had too many vegetables and
didn't buy as much from the other farmers that weren't in the CSA,
including a few for which I had been a very steady customer. I
decided that part of "community sponsored agriculture" involved
spreading around my commerce a little more, and in general like buying
a little from each person. I'm still very regular customer of the farms
that I was a CSA member of, however.

--
Richard W Kaszeta

http://www.kaszeta.org/rich