Any experience with a Produce CoOp?

[CasaBlanca]

I have been invited to partake in a limited share offering coop with a small organic local farm. Was wondering if anyone has experience with one and if so can you provide any Pros and Cons in your experience?

Apparently one time season buy in enables you to partake of a weekly harvest. Prepackaged selection or a choose your own. I can''t grow everything so I am very attracted to the opportunity to have different tastes and seasonal varieties.

If you have experience, would you please share your thoughts?

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I tried to do one this past summer and they were all full for my neighborhood in NYC.

The pros are lots of fresh produce

the cons are some weeks all that is in season is zucchini so your allotment is 15 lbs of zucchini.

some weeks the only thing in season might be something you hate (for me, beets

)

Also, if there is disease or some other kind of crop failure then you might not get anything.

I think the pros out weigh the cons, and thanks for the reminder bc I am going to try and sign-up again now

 

[CasaBlanca]

Bella, Glad it reminded you to get busy! Hard to believe there is a season approaching that can grow anything. It is cold frigid and everything is so dead...spring is coming...really!

Not sure if I would be happy on beet week either. Argggh.

There are some Coops with a small membership fee and then others where you prepay for your produce. I think at this amount it is prepay thing. But I don''t get how they decide the distribution of the produce in relation to the investment. $250 for all veggies, $350 if you want the meat club. I can see me coming home with one cucumber or onion and hubby saying WOW that is an incredible cucumber...better taste spectacular. Then me freaking out on how to prepare the coveted cucumber...perhaps messing it up?

I can''t get a reply of just what I am to expect to receive. I think you can just walk up during the season and buy the produce...the membership may insure you members get the crop first and the left over is what is offered to general public. Too many questions.

And then there is this...It seems like a gym membership. All gung ho to do it...weeks go by and you forget to get the produce and where is your savings? That one cucumber may in deed end up costing you $50 bucks if you miss a week or more. Am I over analyzing the opportunity?

 

[soocool]

We have one where I live and it costs $755 for a full membership and around $400 for 1/2 memberships.

I am including a link http://www.anchorrunfarm.com/ for the farm near me that spells out what is expected of its members etc and what you get in return to give you an idea if something like this is worth it to you. I am not a member but know several people who are and they love it. It is a fully organic farm, BTW.


I have my own garden and plant what I know what I will eat. There are plenty of pick your own in my area so I go there for strawberries, raspberries,blueberries, peaches, and apples.

 

[Puppmom]

Casablanca, a lot will depend on the area of the country you live in. I would be all over a CoOp if I lived in a warmer climate. Most of the veggies that we can get at local CoOps (I live in the Northeast) are yucky to me.

I think it''s a good idea to poke your head in and see what they have periodically before deciding. I would also see if you can buy less than a share. We''re a family of 3 and half a share is PLENTY for us.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Here''s one near my old neighborhood, you can see more info re the weekly allotment.

The CSAs near me say the allotment will feed 2 adults and 2 children/week.

It''s a lot of veggies

http://www.inwoodcsa.org/sharesize.html

 

[CasaBlanca]

Soo Cool, PuppMom, Bella, thanks gang! You have loosened my inhibitions. Thanks for the encouragement and the links.

I am excited. We began our first garden last year. Small. But used organic method and seed. Non gmo. Heirlooms. Most were fragile and delicate...but the tastes were so unlike anything we had had in this Altered World we exist in today. Rich, complex tomato, peppers, green beans, egg plant, etc. Hope my berries will come in this year.

We are just two...thanks for the share descriptions. Puppmom, wasn''t sure if your family is 3 and 1/2 and a share is plenty or if your family is 3 and HALF A SHARE is plenty. Ha Ha. Finally read it correct. Glad you don''t have 1/2 a family member to feed. But kids could be defined as 1/2 couldn''t they? Especially when we are talking brussel sprouts!

Thanks again. Perhaps I may return to this thread with photos of the bounty? It would be fun to share wouldn''t it?

 

[MichelleCarmen]

In theory, I think it''s a great idea, but in reality, as mentioned, what if you''re stuck with a veggy/fruit assortment you don''t like?

With four people in my household *everyone* is incredibly picky that for me it''s just easiest to go and buy 5 lbs of apples and 4 lbs of oranges and watch them be eaten within a few days. The only person who eats stuff like spinach is me and I can only take so much of it!

Normally I go to grocery stores, however, this summer, we''ll do farmers'' markets!

 

[Puppmom]

Whoops! I meant half a share is plenty! I guess we are technically 3 1/2 since I''m pregnant but that''s not what I meant.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Hi CasaBlanca,

You can have a look here http://www.localharvest.org/csa/ to see if the farm you are considering is listed. There may be reviews for your particular farm.

I do not participate in one yet, because I do not have one nearby. If I had the opportunity, I would definitely sign up. Sounds like you love your veggies and are passionate about your garden. If the CSA is nearby, I''m sure you won''t forget to stop by each week. And, YES, photos of your bounty would be lovely.

 

[Rachel9]

We are blessed with great soil/weather here, farmers' market & cooperatives are quite successful. We currently participate in two, The Berry B has a pool of 25 ranches and we only pay $56 anually with a minimum order of $25, first crop/delivers on April 4th we simply love premium berries, can't wait.
The second one is $25-100 @ year with a minimum of $35 it has a store, kitchen and members are welcome to work there to avoid fees. Orders are filled by students and rotating members [ 2# bags]. Early orders/payment from members get filled first, restaurants second, store next, late orders last [18# of rhubarb lol] they are offering cooking classes next Fall, I'm IN

IMO, Supporting local farmers while eating organic is good all the way around

 

[megumic]

We participated in a co-op that we loved. It was 25lbs of fresh in season organic produce every other week. For just the two of us, we gobbled it down always before it went bad and loved it! Was tough b/c by week two, we were out of produce and needed to make a grocery run, but otherwise we loved it. The best part was, having all the fresh goodies kept us cooking healthier than we normally would. Also, we loved the variety and trying new things!

 

[swimmer]

We have a .5 share in NE, it has been challenging some weeks, but quick sauteed brussel sprouts in garlic are terrific and for beets we made a ton of beet burgers to freeze and ended up eating them pretty quickly. I was certain that I hated beets, but was totally wrong about this hearty high fiber treat. Winter squash casseroles, summer roasted root veggie salads, we really branched out from our normal diet of stir-fry. I hope you do get a share, they are fantastic and pretty darn reasonable for prices. I didn''t like the collards, but DH loved them (with ham). The only thing that we got too many of was blueberries. Had them coming out of my ears, finally made pies and gave them away. Not a bad problem to have.

 

[stephbolt]

My friend and I split one during 2008. I loved getting foods I had never tried before (rhubarb, kale, leeks, swiss chard, beets) and learning how to cook them. I''m trying to talk FI into signing up for one again this year but he''s kind of on the fence about it.

 

[princesss]

BF''s mom split a coop share with her friend and they love it. She loves to experiment with food, though, and is willing to throw things together and see how they turn out.

You''ve inspired me! Now I want to see if we have any reasonably prices ones around here.

 

[MustangGal]

My co-worker was telling me about the CoOp he does here. They get a laundry-basket size allotment every 2 weeks (for 4 people), and it''s so different each time. They''ve had to be open to new items, and figure out ways to prepare things (he had a persimmon that week and didn''t know what to do with it). It sounds interesting, but I''m a bit picky so probably wouldn''t be able to do it.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Casablanca - Thanks for starting this thread. I decided to look into the farms that offer CSA shares in my area again. I've found one that delivers to the town where my DH works, so we will be buying a share this year. Yay! And, he will pick up the shares every week, so I don't even have to worry about working a pick-up time into my schedule!!

Have you decided whether you will participate this year?

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So, now the only question is whether we should do a full share ($600) or a half share ($300). We are both tempted to go for the full share. We eat lots of veggies, but some weeks, we would be receiving 4 heads of lettuce, which seems like a lot considering we will also be getting swiss chard, kale, etc. etc. in those same weeks. Decisions, decisions?!? They also include eggs in the full share, but not the half, and some weeks there would be missing veggies from the half share (i.e., you would not necessarily get tomatoes in the half share, though it would be included in the full.) Hmm, maybe we should just do the full share and then share with others what we cannot use.

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Swimmer - Roasted beets (cold) with blue cheese and walnuts are also YUM!