No, I didn’t sign up for Farmer Dave’s vegetable CSA this season.

Part of me is experiencing remorse, reading their newsletters, remembering the exciting “countdown” to the first pickup.

I remember the first joy of eating raw snap peas fresh from the farm. Because of the CSA, I learned about so many cool veggies like garlic scapes, husk cherry tomatoes, and kohrabi. In fact, one of my favorite foods is now tatsoi, a vegetable that’s rarely sold in conventional grocery stores. I also realized that I really like the taste of radishes and turnips.

first csa pickup from farmer dave

Yes, I am a little regretful that I didn’t register, but another part of me is thrilled by the freedom to try other local farmers markets and the ability to purchase exactly what I need when I need it.

I’ve participated in the CSA for the prior two years, and while it was totally worth the $ spent, I couldn’t ignore the negatives were beginning to outweigh the positives.

My reasons for not joining this season:

  1. There was a lot of produce to process (wash, store, etc) and at times I found it overwhelming, coming home with a large bundle late in the afternoon, when it was time to also start preparing dinner. It will be nice to shop in the morning, on my “own” time.
  2. It was difficult to create new & different recipes for the same produce week after week. Greens, greens, greens! We were getting tired of so many leafy greens!
  3. I had cravings for other produce like carrots, broccoli, or cabbage, but there usually wasn’t enough time/space to buy much of anything else before the next CSA pick-up.
  4. Sometimes, the produce we’d get one week, would last us well into the following week and worse, some of it had to be thrown out, which is shameful! I need to take back control over the amount of produce coming in, so I can eliminate waste!
  5. Whether I need to shop once or twice a week, or even every 10 days, I will be in charge of exactly what I need and when I need it. If we are going on vacation, it will be so much easier to plan my food.
  6. Lastly, if all goes well, I’m hoping my own vegetable garden will reward me for all my hard work with some delightful edibles. I might not need to buy so much produce this season! whoo hooo!

Don’t get me wrong, I still do highly recommend CSA’s, especially if you haven’t tried one before. They are a wonderful way to support your local farmer and you really do get to experience a vast amount of awesome (and unique) produce!

It’s just, for me, after two years, I needed a break.

We’ll see how it goes this season. I might be begging to come back to Farmer Dave’s CSA, but then again, maybe I’ll have found my gardening niche and next year, I’ll be self-sustainable. Ha, now wouldn’t THAT be cool!

Want to learn more about Farmer Dave and their CSA? Read my reviews from 2010 and 2011: