CSA - Week 1

Our first CSA delivery arrived at our home on June 5th.  We had left a cooler for the box to fit in on our front stoop.  A few days before I had received an email from Great Country Farms letting us know what we could expect to find in our box that week.

Our beautiful basket items!

Great Country Farms makes every effort to use organic and sustainable methods of farming where possible; however, they are not certified organic.  They do treat their orchards and some crops for pests when necessary.  For my cost comparison, I will compare organic food items except for orchard items with Harris Teeter prices (HT and Whole Foods are my "go to" grocery stores).

Here's what we got week 1:

Bunch of radishes - $1.79
Large bag of spinach - $7.89
2 pints strawberries - $3.50
Asparagus - $3.99 (non-organic price)
Bunch of spring onions - $1.49
Basil plant - $3.99 (price from local nursery)

The total estimated value of our share from week 1 is $22.65.

We grilled the asparagus, used some spinach in an omelet, sauteed the onions and spinach together with some garlic, made this amazing recipe for strawberry gelatin, used the radishes in a salad, and planted the basil plant.  We received a cute "Who's your farmer?" magnet in our basket!  Such a successful basket!

I cannot wait to get into our week 2 basket! 
 

Our CSA with Great Country Farms

This is the second year we are participating in a CSA from Great Country Farms!  Last year we had our share delivered to a group location which was in my husband's work building.  This year, our CSA is being delivered to our front door!

The CSA will run for 20 weeks from June 5th to October 16th.  Each basket is different and exciting!  When you purchase a CSA share through Great Country Farms, you receive free admission for every member of your household to visit the farm (regularly $10 per adult for each visit).  There are also weekly items you can pick for yourself (called U-Pick) at the farm included in the CSA cost.

This sounds like such a great price but I wonder if I am getting my money's worth.  The cost for a CSA share this year, including delivery and tax, is $618.45.  I plan to detail what items have arrived in my box each week and estimate the cost I would have to spend at the grocery or farmer's market.  I plan to do this for the season and see how much I have saved (well, hopefully saved!).

Do you participate in a CSA?