11/23/09 04:52 - 53ºF - ID#50368

Community-Supported Agriculture

Occurred to me that as I'm looking for a CSA to sign up for, I should ask on here. Anyone have any recs? I've Googled and found a couple of local farms that do it. I'd looked intensively last year and found one I thought might be good, but I had just planted so much stuff in my own garden that I thought perhaps it'd be silly to buy produce. As it turns out, my garden didn't yield a whole hell of a lot, so I should've. But, live and learn. So I want to sign up for one, maybe next spring, but it seems like now's the time to look.

So far I've just found:

and

Anyone have any dealings with either of these, or have any other recommendations?

joshua writes at 10:44:05 11/28/09 - Comment #53155: Nice Tiny!

I never really considered that Five Points would actually sell some of their source ingredients for their baked goods. You should see the list of the places they source from - more than one CSA and a ton of local places. Man, now that I think of it I bet their honey is really good - I've been looking for good honey to put on my yogurt, hehe.

tinypliny writes at 04:51:48 11/25/09 - Comment #53123: I signed up for Thorpe's (and split it with 3 others in the office) winter share today. The deadline is Nov 30. They do have bread and flour as part of the share. Eggs are extra - you are right.

I am not sure that Thorpe's gives you even root vegetables in January. You get only potatoes (and oranges). NO gives out greens and root vegetables and things like brussel sprouts - they are, by far, the most diverse CSA around.

With a name like Five Points Bakery, one would expect bread and flour in their CSA, no? ;-) Organic coffee beans are a surprise - where do they say they get these from? South America?!

As for now, rice, bread and potatoes are banned from my kitchen.

joshua writes at 02:13:14 11/25/09 - Comment #53121: It depends on the CSA. Porter Farms does not offer any eggs, dairy or poultry of any kind as far as I know, and to my knowledge neither does Native Offerings, although NO does have beef and pork. Could be wrong - I went and double checked on their web sites. I believe Thorpe's offers them, and also Good Food Farms. I'm not sure about the ability to incorporate eggs as part of a share - from what I've seen this is merely an additional purchase item and if there were any CSAs that incorporated eggs in a share I'd love to know. (I looked into a share with Five Points Bakery and their members get access to eggs and other items as well, like butter, flour, fair trade organic coffee beans, honey, etc., which must be paid for and can be added to your weekly bread share).

With Thorpe's you have to drive to East Aurora, but one of the things I like about Thorpe's is that they also operate a real farmstand - if you don't participate in their CSA you can still go right to the farm and buy their stuff. I tend to like farmstands - one near Jamestown operated by Abers Acres is great... they are a certified organic farm and have a ton of products, including christmas trees, believe it or not. I think I'm going to stop by here when we go home for T-Day - I'm hoping they will be open.

As for the potato thing - no that is not true. Take a look at NO's winter share and you'll see a lot of root vegetables and perishables that are easily stored over the winter (apples, for example). While I'm sure the variety will not be as great in January as it is in August or September, I think the CSAs that do have winter shares make a fair attempt at making it worth peoples' while.

I do not have a CSA but that is not for a lack of trying - I've investigated this a fair amount over the past couple of years but still tend to return to either Porter or Native, since they have a drop a block away from me. I think that maybe some of these smaller upstarts are worth looking into. My problem, I suppose, is that I'm bad with commitment. You know what though? With Jay cooking more I suppose having a random bunch of food to cobble together into a meal should be some fun.

tinypliny writes at 09:29:07 11/23/09 - Comment #53095: Hmmm... is it true that CSAs give you ONLY potatoes in January. I am little terrified of potatoes - I like them so much that I overeat, so they have been banned from my kitchen indefinitely.

tinypliny writes at 09:24:32 11/23/09 - Comment #53093: (e:Joshua), don't eggs qualify as "credits" for the CSA? I am experimenting with frittatas (a variety of them) and I am hesitant to buy eggs from just anywhere. Do you have a CSA from NO/Porter/Thorpe? Do they include eggs. The email I pasted below mentions eggs but not as a part of the share -- a bit confused.

joshua writes at 07:08:51 11/23/09 - Comment #53092: Porter Farms, Native Offerings might be two of the most well known ones. NO is more expensive than Porter, at least when I checked last. Porter's program requires you to occasionally drive to the farm to pick up your local group's shares once, maybe twice a season - dunno if NO requires you to do that. Both have local drops, which is really convenient. Thorpe's I think is also worth looking into, but I do not know if they have a city drop or not.

I like the CSAs that give you the most options - particularly those that offer dairy/poultry/beef/pork and the like as well. I'm an egg guy, gotta have my eggs - I'd love to get eggs from my CSA, rather than get them from the supermarket. Same with the occasional dairy product. I found a local farm that sells smoked bacon - if I EVER!! found a CSA that offered that I might be in for life, lol.

tinypliny writes at 05:40:01 11/23/09 - Comment #53091: Here's some more farms listed: :::link:::

tinypliny writes at 05:29:25 11/23/09 - Comment #53090: Also, I am not happy with how they are marketing grapefruits. None of the disease association findings they mention are set in stone. Grapefruit alone is not some magic fruit - other parts of the diet play a huge role in how nutrients come together and act on the body in the end.

I just happen to like how they taste - that's all. :)

I really wish they had more emphasis on greens (as Native Offerings do) and not potatoes and baked goods!

tinypliny writes at 05:12:20 11/23/09 - Comment #53089

Winter CSA for 2009 - 2010

When: It will start Dec. 19th, 2009 and go every two weeks, on Saturday, from 10 AM-until 2 PM. It will run for 16 weeks, until March 27th, 2009. There will actually only be 8 pick-ups because of it being every other Saturday.

Where: The Bakery, which is nice and warm and is behind the milk house, just down the driveway from the stand a little bit.

What: Your share will include, on each pick-up:

1 full case (approx. 40 lb.) of mixed oranges (variety varies) and Ruby Red grapefruit. What little is left of beets, garlic, carrots, red meat radishes, and leeks

4 Credit Units â€" to spend as you choose from the following list.

1 Credit Unit is Equivalent to:*
1 loaf of bread of your choice
1 plate of cookies (7)
1 plate of muffins (4)
1 bag potatoes (6lbs)
2 qts. apples from Dan Towers
1 bag of organic (4 lbs) â€" Soft wheat: great for pancakes, biscuits, muffins, scones, & cookies.
Spring hard spelt: for use in yeast breads.
Winter soft spelt: for use in muffins, pancakes, etc.
Ducold Rye: high quality grain for baking rye breads.
Corn: for corn bread mix.
Vinton Soybeans for making roasted soybeans, tofu, soy milk,
Dry Beans (3 lbs.) for baked beans, soups
Sunflower seeds (3 lbs.) possible later on when they are de-hulled

2 Credit Units is Equivalent to:
1 Pie
1 Specialty or Holiday Bake good

Our baked goods are made with organic sugar, eggs, milk, and flour (any exceptions will be noted). We also make our pie crust out of our own lard from our organically raised pigs and only real butter no trans fats.

What else will be available to purchase at this time? There should be our organic eggs, beef, and pork, maple syrup, honey, organic sugar, Redmond salt, and baked goods. The fuzzy baby chicks have grown up and should start laying loads of eggs around Christmas time, giving you lots of eggs through the rest of the winter share season.

About the Citrus: We grow it all organically, using no chemicals and fertilize only with organic compost. Weed control is mowing, hand pulling around young trees, weed whacking, and running a chain saw to trim out larger invasive weed brush and prune the trees. We just enjoy growing things so much we canâ€™t stop, so we appreciate you helping to support our â€œhabitâ€! We will bring you back pictures.

Pink and red grapefruit are such a great source of vitamin â€œCâ€ and the cancer-fighter, lycopene. Plus a University of Florida College of Medicine study found that adding grapefruit to the diet reduced levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol by 11 percent in six weeks. Studies have also shown that grapefruit lowers triglycerides and may lower the risk of lung cancer.From the Florida Dept. of Citrus

Price: Upon visiting our local Tops grocery store, I discovered if you were to pay their prices for conventional citrus, it would cost you at least $50/case. For organic citrus it would cost an
average of $85.00/case when you do the math.

Our price is $360 for the winter share, which when divided over 8 pickups (16 weeks) equals $45 per pick-up, when you not only get a case of citrus but also 4 credit units worth of baked goods or other produce.

There are no small or large shares, just â€œone size fits all.â€ If you wish to purchase extra citrus, you may at a discount if you have a share. It is possible for you to split the share with another family if you choose as there is nothing unlimited this season.

If you canâ€™t eat grapefruit due to the medications you are on, let us know so we pick all oranges for you. *Actually, grapefruit makes prescription drugs more effective so in theory a person could take less medication and have fewer side effects, but not knowing what the ratio is could be
dangerous. We read that at some point the drug companies are going to be required to publish rates on this so that you could, for example eat 1 grapefruit per day and reduce your medication by a prescribed amount. Ask your doctor about this.

About the vegetables: We cannot promise much for beets, carrots, rutabagas, garlic, and red meat radishes, maybe only enough for your 1st or 2nd pick-ups. We are endeavoring, however, to plant some veggies in Florida (organically, of course) and will include them in your share. No guarantees but we will try for summer squash, greens, beets, carrots, and some other experiments and see how it goes. They will not be ready until February and March if they are successful, so January may not have any vegetables except potatoes.

If you regularly come to our farm on a different day (not Saturday) because you have a cow share, we will just save you your share for that day so you donâ€™t have to reschedule your day. Just let us know what will work for you, however keep in mind that your bake goods would not be as fresh.

If you would like a winter share, please let us know as soon as possible so we can make appropriate plans. A winter share could make a great Christmas gift for a family you care about!

Please fill out the bottom and send with your check to:
Thorpeâ€™s Family Organic Farm, 12866 Rt. 78, East Aurora, NY 14052
Payable to: Mike or Gayle Thorpe

I am sending my payment of $360.00 (Deadline to sign up is Nov. 30th.)

tinypliny writes at 05:02:34 11/23/09 - Comment #53087

My advisor has been getting winter crop shares from Native Offerings for the past couple years and from what I hear, is really happy with them. They deliver at (e:Drew)'s church in Buffalo. I think they give out a lot of greens - which is a major plus. Plus they always seem to be sold-out - which is also a sign that their shares are good (or maybe its a marketing ploy...)

I am trying the CSA for the first time this winter and splitting it with 3 others from my office - and this is the email* I received from the lady who is actually going to get the share and split with us.

I am not really happy with the dearth of greens on there - but then I am not going to be paying a huge lot either - it will be around $90 for 16 weeks with 8 deliveries (every 2 weeks). I have a feeling I will be paying this much for only the oranges - but I am not sure I can back out now (Potatoes and breads are banned from my kitchen for now).