Your Bay Area CSA Rankings?

[Eat_Nopal]

I am not impressed with Planet Organics... produce quality about as unimpressive as my local Whole Foods & more expensive (granted it is delivered... but there is less choice). Here is what I got this week....

Qty Item Price
----- -------------------------------------------------- ----------
1 Bananas (1 lbs.) $1.59
1 Broccoli (1 bunch(es)) $3.99
1 Bunched Carrots (1 bunch(es)) $2.65
4 D'Anjou Pears (1 each) $3.56
1 Dino (Lacinato) Kale (1 bunch(es)) $2.44
1 Fuyu Persimmons (1 each) $1.17
4 Granny Smith Apples (1 each) $3.16
1 Green Beans (1 lbs.) $4.49
1 Jalapeno (0.25 lbs.) $1.45
1 Pomegranates (1 each) $1.05
1 Satsuma Mandarins (1 lbs.) $3.99
1 White Mushrooms (0.25 lbs.) $2.99
2 Yellow Onion (1 each) $0.98
----------
Produce Total: $33.51

[Ruth Lafler]

My understanding is that Planet Organics isn't a CSA -- it's just a company that bundles produce from wholesalers and distributes it -- the bananas are a dead giveaway that their produce is not local! "CSA" stands for "consumer supported agriculture," which means buying direct from the producer (or a co-op of producers). There are numerous threads about the various true CSAs -- my impression is that preferrences are highly individual, depending on your lifestyle, cooking style and eating habits.

[Eat_Nopal]

Do you have several CSAs & how would you rank them & why?

[Ruth Lafler]

I've followed the discussions, but I've always concluded that a CSA doesn't really suit my lifestyle, cooking style and eating style: it's not really cost effective for one person, and you have to be willing to eat whatever they send you. Since I live near a good organic grocery, I can buy just what I want and need when I need it, and I have access to a lot of farmers markets if I feel the need for more direct contact with the producers and more variety.

[bernalgirl]

I've tried Eatwell, Two Small Farms and Terra Firma. Terra Firma was kind of weird, a very boring mix across the summer and some significant quality issues (lots of wormy moldy corn week after week and badly bruised peached but the best melons I've ever tasted!). Now that we've quit I envy the more interesting mix of fruit and veg in the Fall offerings. Two Small Farms offered some unusual and wonderful produce but we got tired of all the summer brassica when we craved peppers and tomatoes and eggplant -- their growing area is cooler. We liked Eatwell quite a bit, but found it difficult to split as neither of our households could consume a whole box on our own. Families have grown and we're about to try a box per household, I'm anxious to start as I miss my weekly produce boon!

[Eat_Nopal]

How do their boxes compare in quantity to the Planet Organics box I mentione above? The way we cook... we got two meals (+ leftovers) out of the all the vegetables, & the fruit will last us about half the week... so I am obviously sensitive to the the price since two boxes a week is almost as much as our Trader Joe's bill (we are only 2 + 1 toddler)

[chemchef]

Wow! That is hideously expensive! I am also interested in what people have to say as I was thinking about joining a CSA as well. I hadn't really contemplated Planet Organics, as they seem more like a distributor and more expensive than say, buying directly from a farmer.

[hulagirl]

we've belonged to a few and found that "Eating with the Seasons" was our favorite (and it's a true CSA): the quality is outstanding, you can pick and choose what you want based on what's being harvested that week, etc. they have a website so give them a look.

our second favorite was eatwell but i've heard they've been severely impacted by the medfly outbreak and are now sourcing from other farms for their CSA.

[Pistou]

The medfly isn't much affecting Eatwell's boxes right now. The quarantine seems to apply to nightshades (tomatoes and eggplants) and fruit. Eatwell has always traded with other farms for most of the fruit that they pack in their boxes. The quarantine is in place through, I believe, July next year. So it may have some impact on tomatoes, though July is early/mid tomato season for them, depending on how the weather goes.

Also, fwiw, there were tomatillos in our Eatwell box this week. I don't know if they aren't a carrier for the med fly (there was no indication in the newsletter that they came from a different farm, and there always is if that's the case) or what . . . But I do know from our newsletters that they take the medfly quarantine very seriously.

[jsaimd]

For veggies - we have done Two Small Farms for 4 seasons now and have really enjoyed it. They are a CSA meaning, you buy a share of the farms and you get what they harvest for you. No choice. We have 2 adults (one often isn't home for dinner) and 2 small children (who admittedly don't eat much). we only eat out at max 1 time a week, and I always bring my lunch. We go through a box easily in a week and often supplement with other veggies - but I like veggies and eat a lot of them.

The box is $20 I think. This last week we got: a large bunch of bok choi, about 4 medium white carrots, 4 fat yellow carrots, 3-4 leeks, 4-5 medium turnips, 4-5 medium potatoes, 1 large bunch of soup celery, one small head of romesco and one medium butternut squash. This is a typical box.

What I like: we get really different produce than what we would get in a store. I don't have to think about what I need to buy, I just create with what I have on hand. The food is VERY fresh and you can taste the difference. I consume more veggies because I have to use them up. I adapt the veggies to all sorts of cuisines. They are really nice and have very good customer service.

Sometimes we do get a run on one type of thing. a few years ago it was cabbage, which goes a long way. I was so sick of cabbage! This year we had a lot of peppers. I could eat peppers all day, so I loved that.

We also do a fruit CSA through Frog Hollow farm. This one is MUCH more expensive - I think $40 for 10 pnd boxes. During the winter they contract with other farms and you end up getting other things. I have mixed emotions about this one. Some of their fruit is AMAZING - so I just can't cancel. Those Warren pears keep luring me back and some of the avocados are very good. But some is not worth the steep price of $4 a pnd. I think that if we had a year round farmers market here that I could reasonably get to weekly with my 2 boys, I would just do that. But I don't get to the market too often, I get bored with the selection at the grocery store and it takes to long because I like to taste fruit before shelling out cash for it. As far as the logistics - they can be a bit flakey in letting you know when it is time to renew (sometimes they just renew automatically), but if you don't like the fruit, you can tell them and they will refund part of your money.

Variety is: summer is mostly stone fruit, starting with different varieties cherries, peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums and pluots, into fall you start getting asian pears and other pears, in the winter you get apples, citrus, avocado, pomegranate, and osme of their dried fruit, granola or preserves.

[Eat_Nopal]

Thanks for the info... that is the exact information that is helpful for making a decision on a CSA. I hope there are more posts like this.

[Windy]

I've really enjoyed the mystery boxes from Mariquita, one of the Two Small Farms mentioned above. It's a great way to try them out and see if you like their produce. The box yesterday included the end of season heirloom tomatoes, gorgeous peppers, romano beans, watermelon radishes, potatoes, chives, mustard and collard greens, three colors of carrots, soup celery, and I added escarole and dandelion greens.

http://www.mariquita.com/Farmers%20Ma...

There are two more dates this year. I wish they had fruit too, but I love buying fruit at Alemany market, so that's probably fine.

Good to hear about the Frog Hollow CSA, btw. At those prices, I can buy Frog Hollow produce at Whole Foods or the farmer's market. (When are the Warren pears in season?)

[wally]

It is the tail end of the Warren Pear season now.

[jsaimd]

Yep - the Frog Hollow CSA is the same price as at their stand... : (. But I don't live near their stand and our local farmer's market that I can get to easily doesn't have good organic fruit or much variety at all. And this is the last Saturday.

Oh and Warren pears started in Sept. and they say will go through the end of the year (storage pears), but we haven't gotten any for awhile. However, the Taylor Gold's we've been getting are very good.

[Melanie Wong]

Assuming you want something local, the two in your area that I've heard recommended are Laguna Farms in Sebastopol and Tierra Vegetables in Santa Rosa. I've not subscribed to them so can't speak from personal experience. I do buy their produce regularly and have been happy with them. Maybe someone else can comment.

[Eat_Nopal]

Yes... I definitely prefer local... I've had both Laguna & Tierra at Whole Foods... but didn't think the quality justified the price (poblano peppers about $5/lb etc.,) so I am hoping the stuff delivered by CSAs is better than the stuff that went throught the WF supply chain.

[Melanie Wong]

You can visit Tierra's farmstand in Santa Rosa (I'm heading there right now, closes at 6pm), and Laguna sells at a few farmers market, including Sebastopol on Sunday morning. You can get a sense of what the straight-from-the-farm quality is vs. WF's supply chain delay. I don't think their prices are any higher than what you've listed for Planet Organics.

[Melanie Wong]

Just a note that the TIERRA stand closes at 5:30pm now, and actually they start putting things away at 5pm, as I found out today. But they gave me a lantern to poke around in the storage shed myself for what I wanted. I bought more dried beans, another heirloom variety that i've not tried before. Oh, and they've had puntarelle for the last few weeks.

-----
Tierra Vegetables
651 Airport Blvd, Santa Rosa, CA 95403

[wearybashful]

Eat Nopal, I get Tierra's CSA boxes. They are $18 a box, plus i pay an extra $2 to get it delivered to the JC area drop-off. Mostly things taste better than what's in stores (my father said their strawberries made him weep); sometimes they've given me a dud, or something really buggy. I like the surprises and getting things I wouldn't have ordinarily tried, like fresh marrowfat beans and salsify. My complaint is usually not getting enough of one thing to make a whole pot of it. The worst was when we got three sticks of rhubarb, and one zucchini. If you have to mix everything together you can't taste what's special about a single vegetable.

However Evie of Tierra tells me most people like a little bit of this and that, and I'm the only one with that complaint. Here's what was in yesterday's box:
Acorn and Delicata Squash
Cauliflower, a few small bright colored sprigs, not the usual white globe.
Cabbage
Carrots (much better than stores')
Prunes---a handful
Green Tomatoes---no! go away!
Sunchokes---AKA Jerusalem Artichokes. surprise! I hope I don't have to peel them.

It's fun to go to the stand, everybody chats and shares advice; but I don't like driving to Airport Rd. I can't decide if I'll continue the CSA or not. I do kind of enjoy the challenge of dealing with whatever shows up.

[Allfrog68]

I've been an Eatwell member for 5 years or so. I only know them. Here's what I like about them. Their newsletters, special events, family feel, and the contents of the boxes. As I type this I'm waiting for strawberries to cook that I got during their strawberry picking weekends that are held at the farm. Basically, eat all you want in the field and then pick a bunch for $1/lb. This year I may try to hit their farm campout and also their tomatoe sauce making weekends!

I really like the contents of the boxes because it's taught me a lot about things I had never tried. I'm an expert Kale soup maker, before joining Eatwell I didn't know what kale was. Sometimes the winter boxes (lettuce, kale, greens, winter squash+++) don't seem super great but the summer boxes more than make up for it. Think it's important to stick with one for all seasons to get a true representation of their total package. Eatwell does trade and I appreciate that. I also get fresh eggs from them. I like their newsletters since they share a little about what it takes to maintain such a farm. Makes you appreciate the workers and Eatwell's overall goals. All in all, I'm a strong Eatwell fan!