Colchester Farm CSA Week #5

My CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share program has started for the year. Check out Week #1, Week #2, Week #3, and Week #4.

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 chose this week: cucumbers, green cabbage, green beans, heirloom tomatoes, lacinato kale, and bonus hot peppers.

Photo credit to Johnny!

How we’ll use them

Johnny will eat the tomatoes and hot peppers. We used the green beans as a side dish for black bean and avocado quesadillas (yummm), the cucumbers fit into salads and work as snacks, and the kale will become a cooked side dish with steak.

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:

I found a pretty significant difference between the two stores this week – crazy the difference in price for the same items. A couple of other notes: First, neither store offered heirloom tomatoes (which are more natural than many of the in-store varieties, they are not ‘inbred,’ they do not have a genetic mutation that creates the uniform color we’re used to seeing in store tomatoes, and you can save the seeds of an heirloom tomato). Second, neither store had the lacinato kale, just the curly variety. Finally this week, Colchester offered hot peppers (and basil) as bonus items, which are not counted toward the 5 pieces of a small share.

This has been fun to track each week!

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.