Colchester Farm CSA Week #4

My CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share program has started for the year. Check out Week #1, Week #2 and Week #3.

Our season runs for 26 weeks from June – November. I purchased a small share which means I get to choose 5 units each week during my pick-up. I happen to pick-up my share on Tuesday, which works perfectly for my schedule – this lets me enjoy fresh food all week and then re-stock at the Farmers’ Market.

Items I (Johnny actually) chose this week: beets, cucumbers, flowers, peppers, and tomatoes.

Photo credit to Johnny!

How we’ll use them

Beets will be juiced, tomatoes will be used for our July 3 cookout and for Johnny in salads, peppers will be used for cookout and also for Johnny to snack on, cucumbers will be used for snacks and in salad, and the flowers are on our table and will be used as decor!

Cost comparison

A small share for 5 units costs $365 for 26 weeks. That translates to $14/week.

It’s important to note that I chose to compare these five items because they are the items I picked for the week. There were other options, too. This cost analysis will be based on the pieces that I choose to take home with me.

I visited two Kent County grocery stores and compared the prices for the same items:

What a difference this week! One store didn’t have the same type of flowers we received from Colchester, they just had bunches of roses. Two other things worth noting: the beets at both stores looked awful; I would not have bought them even if I needed them. They were super small and looked old – either harvested way too long ago or they’ve been sitting on the shelf too long. The other thing – the tomatoes from Colchester look and smell amazing (I’m sad I can’t enjoy them), whereas the tomatoes at both stores were either super-sized or they smelled old/felt too squishy.

Honestly, no comparison for several of the items this week. If you’ve never experienced the freshness of just-picked local foods, there’s a huge quality difference–it’s almost like a different food, making it hard to compare tomatoes from the farm to tomatoes from the store. The taste is totally different, too.

More on the CSA

My CSA pick-up works this way: every Tuesday from 4-6 p.m., 1-2 people from Colchester (farm manager Theresa, or one of the apprentices) will set-up tables and produce with signs that indicate how much you can take of each item. Based on the share you purchased, you can take either 5 (small), 8 (medium), or 14 (large) different items.

If you live near Kent County, there’s still time to join! We’ll work to prorate your share (so you only pay for it when you start picking up), or you can investigate a fall share or flex share season option:

I can’t wait to continue this project throughout the 26 week program!

Full disclosure: I am a board member of Colchester Farm CSA. I pay for our small share and receive no monetary compensation for being a board member. All opinions are my own.