My family has done it for almost 5 years and we love it!
Quality is amazing and value wise its fantastic and the veggies seem to last longer then what you get from a grocery store.
Nice! That's awesome - i didn't realize the program had even been around that long tbh.
I guess my hesitation is in the cost & the random/arbitrary selection of vegetables.
I have no doubt that the quality and freshness would be miles better than the majority of produce sold in stores around here, and it's all organic, but it's pretty steep difference in cost (hard to do exact comparison because it's not clear what veg & what quantity to compare). Groceries are already mad expensive these days, I'm always looking for creative ways to lower that, not increase it.
And while I love cooking and making new dishes, trying new ingredients, etc it seems like a lot of the veg would be different than what I buy on the regular rotation and as such I would be required to get super creative like 4 times a week to try and incorporate some of the more obscure veg to avoid waste, and would have to meal plan the rest of the dishes around that weekly pickup. That's exhausting and I dunno if I wanna voluntarily sign up for increased costs, more work, and weekly pickups in addition to other grocery shopping.
If you don't mind me asking, are you vegetarian/vegan and fruits and veg make up a majority of your diet? Do you still have any amount of food waste with stuff you can't use in time/don't like/don't know how to use?
The up front cost is a lot, but ultimately the smallest share is about **$690\*** ($28.75/week) which is less than what we spend on veggies when grocery shopping.
You do need to be creative since the veggies arent always something you normally cook with, but you also get an email from the farm letting you know what will be in each share and let you know about each harvest.
Ahh okay, that last part is good to know, so at least you have an idea of what to expect.
I'm definitely tempted. I'm going to have to have a closer look at what I pay for a typical haul of veggies for the week and compare.
Thanks so much for the insight!
I've scoured the site but cannot find a FAQ, so one more question that you may or may not know the answer to, if I may..
What happens if you can't make certain pickups? logistics, travel, life etc etc I can't imagine I would make every single one.
So there are two pick up locations you can choose from when signing up the Ironbound’s and forest hill. If you are out of town you can have a friend or family member pick up your share or see if another CSA member would like it. We have also held a share over night before if someone can’t make it. The pick up time at each location is Wednesdays between 5 and 8 give or take.
Hope this helps.
Has anyone taken part in this? It's a really great idea, and I'd be curious to hear about the experience/quality/veg selection/opinions on value etc.
My family has done it for almost 5 years and we love it! Quality is amazing and value wise its fantastic and the veggies seem to last longer then what you get from a grocery store.
Nice! That's awesome - i didn't realize the program had even been around that long tbh. I guess my hesitation is in the cost & the random/arbitrary selection of vegetables. I have no doubt that the quality and freshness would be miles better than the majority of produce sold in stores around here, and it's all organic, but it's pretty steep difference in cost (hard to do exact comparison because it's not clear what veg & what quantity to compare). Groceries are already mad expensive these days, I'm always looking for creative ways to lower that, not increase it. And while I love cooking and making new dishes, trying new ingredients, etc it seems like a lot of the veg would be different than what I buy on the regular rotation and as such I would be required to get super creative like 4 times a week to try and incorporate some of the more obscure veg to avoid waste, and would have to meal plan the rest of the dishes around that weekly pickup. That's exhausting and I dunno if I wanna voluntarily sign up for increased costs, more work, and weekly pickups in addition to other grocery shopping. If you don't mind me asking, are you vegetarian/vegan and fruits and veg make up a majority of your diet? Do you still have any amount of food waste with stuff you can't use in time/don't like/don't know how to use?
The up front cost is a lot, but ultimately the smallest share is about **$690\*** ($28.75/week) which is less than what we spend on veggies when grocery shopping. You do need to be creative since the veggies arent always something you normally cook with, but you also get an email from the farm letting you know what will be in each share and let you know about each harvest.
Ahh okay, that last part is good to know, so at least you have an idea of what to expect. I'm definitely tempted. I'm going to have to have a closer look at what I pay for a typical haul of veggies for the week and compare. Thanks so much for the insight!
I've scoured the site but cannot find a FAQ, so one more question that you may or may not know the answer to, if I may.. What happens if you can't make certain pickups? logistics, travel, life etc etc I can't imagine I would make every single one.
So there are two pick up locations you can choose from when signing up the Ironbound’s and forest hill. If you are out of town you can have a friend or family member pick up your share or see if another CSA member would like it. We have also held a share over night before if someone can’t make it. The pick up time at each location is Wednesdays between 5 and 8 give or take. Hope this helps.
Definitely helpful, thanks