CSA in San Diego with lots of good fruit??

[daantaat]

We're considering joining a CSA to support local growers and get fresher, better tasting produce. I've re-read leannabe's post from 2007 about Be Wise and my question is this: Are there any CSA's in San Diego that give you lots of fresh, seasonal fruit? We've been batting an average close to zero lately between the usual rounds of Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, 99 Ranch and Costco.

If the local CSA's don't give lots of fresh fruit, where would you go in San Diego to get fresh fruit that actually tastes like a fruit?

TIA

[beth1]

Have you tried California Produce on Plaza just off the 805? I've had really good luck with them. They also have a small meat counter and dairy case. The place is packed on weekends, but weekdays aren't too bad. It's really clean, and there's no odor from the meat counter. The best deal I've gotten from them is 1 1/2 lbs of bacon ends for around $2.

[LaurenZ]

We are members of Be Wise and last week we got a huge bag of little italian plums that are great and a bag of about 8 big pears. I am not even a big pear fan but I love these. Previous boxes have included amazing peaches, TONS of oranges, and strawberries.

Unfortunately, Be Wise is full but I second everyone's input below to get fruit at local farmers markets. We always buy stuff at the Hillcrest market as we only get our CSA box every other week.

[Ewilensky]

You'll never need to buy oranges with Be Wise - a bag a week.

I think we got one bag of cherries this summer, a few pints of strawberries, a few bags of kumkwats, right now we have the most delicious apples, pears and as mentioned above Italian plums that my wife ate without saving me one... at least she stuck a poem on the fridge for me... it didn't help.

This Is Just To Say
by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

[daantaat]

Thanks everyone! Sounds like I just need work it into our schedule and hit up the Farmer's Markets and Henry's.

Ewilensky--I think your wife owes you a BIG one! :-)

[drucie]

We have been with Morning Song Farm (http://www.morningsongfarm.com) since summer and it's great. She is in Rainbow and delivers to a few locations including here in Temecula where I live. I am not sure how far south into SD she goes. She has a lot of unusual tropical type fruit and each week fo r the past few mos we've been getting large bags of macadamia nuts too. Mmm. Thumbs up.

[jeniyo]

i am also interested in joining a CSA. I have Tierra Miguel, Garden of Eden and Bewise Farm on my list. Have you tried two of them? how do they compare? which has more variety and different fruits?

there is only two of us so we may opt of the small/bimonthly pick up.

[scout1222]

I'm a member of JR Organics CSA, and if I could improve one thing about it, it would be to have more fruit in the box.

This past week in the box we got a pint of strawberries, a smallish melon, and 3 white nectarines. They are all great tasting, but I'd love to have a higher fruit to vegetable ratio. I still have to supplement my produce by buying more fruit. Typically I just go to Henry's where I do the rest of my shopping, but if I had more time, I'd always go the farmers market route.

[MrKrispy]

BeWise still wasn't accepting new members last time I checked (about a month ago).

I have been trying to go to People's Co-op in Ocean Beach since it is easier to get to than most Farmer's Markets. I think they focus more on organic stuff than local but I definitely saw lots of SoCal produce there.

[littlestevie]

like the other posters, I like the flexibility of farmers markets. I have been pretty happy with the Vista market on Sat. and the Leucadia market on Sun. Though the Leucadia market is kinda small, we seem to get plenty of fresh fruit, love the pluots right now

[leanneabe]

I took a break from Be Wise for a while because it was getting difficult to get to the pickup spots around my work schedule (which isn't any fault of theirs). But, the last few boxes I'd gotten did include some fruit. I think Tierra Miguel might also have fruit in their boxes. However, it won't be as prominent as the veggies. It's almost like a "bonus", getting fruit.

I've had good luck with fruit at Henry's... Costco, too. Their blueberries, blackberries, apples, and mangoes have been very tasty. Other than that, your best bet for awesome fruit will be at the local farmer's markets. The one in Hillcrest is the most popular, but any one closest to you should suffice.

[keena]

I go to either LJ or Hillcrest Farmer's Mkts on Sunday. I got some spectacular organic Fiji apples in LJ yesterday. along with very good peaches and grapes. I haven't been to the PB market in a while but an exotic fruit farm in Ramona used to come and sell interesting fruits there as well on Sat. Does BeWise even have any openings these days? I used to really want to join (they were full in my locations) but as time goes on , I like the flexibility of the farmer's mkts and just choosing whatever I feel each week. They're close to home or work which makes it easy for us.