phx - anyone here use a csa?

[winedubar]

hi,

i try to do the localvore thing as much as possible, and the farmers market is a weekly event for me.

i'm considering trying a csa. (csa's are community supported agriculture. essentially you are buying shares in a farm for a season, and you get a weekly produce box based on the harvest. www.localharvest.org if you want to take a look to find one :D

)

at any rate, i'm curious to see if anyone has used one. i'm considering the whole earth csa. does anyone have any feedback?

also - organic produce delivery services if i can't get to the market - i used to use www.rabbitfoodproduce.com - but they've really changed their delivery policy and it's kind of a pain now.

i found this one : www.og4you.com

anyone know anything about them?

i'd love some input......the people i know who use csa's live a ways from me, and i'm not in the pickup range for their csa..so i'm kind of flying blind ;

)

tia,

winedubar

[zebcook]

I spoke with the Crooked Sky folks a few weeks back and they looking to see if there was enough interest (i.e. customers they could sign up) to add a drop point in the East Valley area. You might check with them about that.

Zeb

[azhotdish]

I must either 1) not leave my urban dwelling enough OR 2) am completely out of the loop OR 3) CSAs are a relatively-new thing because I've never heard of the term. But regardless, I looked up these links and it really sounds cool and something I could definitely see myself doing. I'd jump right on the idea if they had some other alternative day to pick-up. Forgive me, I like produce, but I like golfing Saturday mornings more. Guess I'll stick to the markets.

[ciaogal]

I know that Larry from Boxed Greens calls in to 'Culinary Confessions' The local dining radio show.... once a week...and talks about his service. You can speak w/ him during the show...he talks to callers.
http://www.culinaryconfessions.com/
M-F 11AM TO 1PM 1310AM KXAM...If you have any questions regarding his CSA.

[winedubar]

awesome!!!!! if i call in i promise to identify myself as winedubar :D

[ciaogal]

I will be listening ' winedubar' !

[azhotdish]

and naturally i'll use 'azhotdish'. in fact...wait...what's my name again? ;)

[grrlscout]

I've been looking at Crooked Sky Farms. I found them through the localharvest site, and they have a pickup location that's on my way home from work.

http://crookedskyfarms.com/Home_Page....

I'm just waiting to sign up until after I move, and since it is pretty pricey, I was hoping to find someone to go halvsies with me.

I am also a little uneasy about the whole not getting to choose what you get thing. For instance, what if it's a lot of beets? I hate beets.

So I'm not entirely committed to doing it. At this point, I'm just thinking of giving gardening a shot.

[hzp]

well, you've lost out on this season for gardening, its really late to be planting stuff, but honestly, why not just hit a farmers market once a week? isn't crooked sky at town and country anyways? (blue sky, crooked sky...... they all have similar names)

[grrlscout]

I figured I'd pretty much missed the growing season. It just seemed kind of silly to start one when we live in an apartment and are moving in a few weeks. However, I had hopes for maybe a container or two of something heat tolerant that I can move inside.

I love farmer's markets, but I have yet to find one that is even somewhat convenient to get to. Some site said there was one in old Glendale, but when I got there, nothing.

I visited the Wednesday one at T&C once, since it's sort of near work (but not really), and was rather disappointed. There weren't many vendors, and very few of those sold produce.

Some of the vendors had produce with labels on them, like for the grocery store. I thought that was kind of weird. Like maybe they got them from a big wholesaler, not locally.

So my quest continues...

[silverbear]

McClendon Select at T&C sells excellent produce, but McClendon is often the only true produce vendor there, so each Wednesday I have to ponder if it's worth the drive and the time away from work to go to the T&C market. I haven't seen the "sky" vendors lately.

[azhotdish]

Yes, there is another produce vendor with a more limited selection that also shows up along with McClendon, but those are usually the only two. That said, I've found the items from McClendon to be very good (and since I'm very close at work, well worth it).

[winedubar]

ooooohhhhh, i didn't know they were doing a csa..cool, thanks for the info...

i kind of like the suprise factor. its like an organic culinary christmas every week when you get your box of goodies :D plus it forces me to eat healthier and try interesting veg. why let that food go to waste if it took so much effort just to get it to your plate :D

[hzp]

I used one for a year, but realized quickly that I prefered to simply go to the farmers market. The trouble, for me, was that I got a little of everything, when often, I want a lot of one thing, and not a bit of the other (lots of carrots for soup, but no brussel sprouts), etc. Plus, as a single person, it was just entirely too much.

I think its great for people who truly love all veggies, and who can work in a little bit of everything each week.

[silverbear]

It's not a CSA, but I have used the Boxed Greens produce delivery service:

http://www.boxedgreens.com

Pro:

Excellent customer service
Online ordering
Great produce
All organic

Con:

High (sometimes very high) prices
$25 minimum order
$11 (approximate) delivery charge to my neighborhood

As a result, I use the service only a few times a year --- most often when I know I'll be doing a lot of home cooking but won't have time to shop for good produce. I believe that they try to use some local suppliers, but I'll confess I haven't given much scrutiny to the geographic origins of the produce since that's not a priority for me.

[winedubar]

hi silverbear,

thank you for the thoughtful response!! i'll take a look at them!!