Hen House Market ~ CSA?

[okaliedokalie]

Has anyone participated in the Hen House CSA in the past?
Is it worth it?

[Doreen]

Well, lookie there! I just looked you up yesterday, and welcome back :)

[okaliedokalie]

i was feeling your vibes, doreen.

[Doreen]

What's CSA at the Hen House?

Miou just started posting some awesome ads lately so maybe she'll know.

[amzasmommy]

I participate in a local CSA and love it. The share is huge so I actually split it with another family. If you have a family of 4-6 it's a good size. I like the variety of produce we get and the shear amount is amazing. I need to learn to can this year because last year I had to get very creative to eat all that we got each week.

[miou]

What's CSA at the Hen House?

Miou just started posting some awesome ads lately so maybe she'll know.

Sorry, I've been slacking off. I'm going to try to work through the ad a little today 'cuz it's a biggie. Last week's energies were spent on figuring out deals at the HyVee tent sale in Olathe. Now my energy has resulted in enough Kellogg's cereal to last us until September.

I've never done the CSA but think it's a neat idea...

[homemom3]

can someone post more about this? I have four kids, myself and the hubby. How much is it? etc.

[amzasmommy]

Our CSA is through a local farmer and I actually got the email from work. It's $385 for 25 weeks (May 12-Oct 27). I split it with a friend since we both have small families and it was $193 each. We will split the produce each week. The amount you get and what you get varies from week to week depending on how the crops fair and what the farmer plants. Our produced is delivered to a central location each friday and we go pick up our box.

This is what the farmer planted this year. As it's ready to harvest that's what will end up in the box. I usually leave w/ 2-4 full reusable grocery bags worth of stuff each week before splitting it. The quality is amazing. So much better and fresher than the grocery store. I won't buy produce again until after the end of the season.

VegetablesAsparagusBeets - Detroit Dark Red, CylindraBell peppers - green, red, orange, chocolate, ivory, purple, yellowBroccoli - Coronada Crown, EvereatBrussel sproutsCabbage - dynamoCarrots - Karina, Envy, Enterprise, ThumbelinaCauliflower - 2 or 3 varietiesCeleryChinese cabbage - China Express, Tender HeartCucumbers - sweet slice (Burpless)Eggplants - Dusky, CLoud Nine, Fairy TalesGreen beans - Strike, Bronco, Royale Burgandy, Carson (yellow)Kale - red & green curledKohlrabi - greenLettuces - buttercrunch, romaine, iceberg, loose leaf mixLima beans - FordhookOnions - spring bunch, large “candy”Peas - snap peas, shell peasPie pumpkins - small sugarPotatoes - white, red norland, Rose Gold, all red, all blueRadishes - 4 or 5 varietiesRhubarb - redSalsifySpinachSweet corn - 3 varietiesSweet potatoes - 3 varietiesSwiss chard - Bright LightsTomatoes - Mt. Fresh, Carolina Gold, Great White, Copia, Big Zebra,Applause, Cherry Tomatoes, Red & Yellow RomaTurnipsWinter squash - butternut, bush delicata, spaghetti, sweet dumplingYellow summer squashZucchini - Spineless Beauty, Golden Dawn, Sunburst
Fruit CropsCantaloupes - Hannah’s Choice, Odyssey, MoneyloupeHoneydew melonsStrawberriesWatermelons - Sangria (red seeded), orange Sunshine (seedless), Red Seedless
HerbsBasilChivesGarlicParsley

[amzasmommy]

and here's the FAQ link to the one I use. Good general info.

Healthy Hoosiers CSA » F.A.Q. (http://healthyhoosierscsa.com/faq/)

[MamaBird06]

bumping this because it's almost csa time and it looks like hen house has a smaller veggie and fruit option this year: 8 weeks for 15$/week.

I'm wondering if they do substitutes? like if we don't want beef, if they'll give us more chicken, etc?

I am very tempted by the small 8 week session though, i'm spending about 30$ as it is on produce everyweek, and i bet this will be a lot more than what i'm buying..

[thriftycj]

I have participated in the Hen House CSA a couple years ago. It generally nets a 25-30% savings over store prices. Each week, you generally get a meat item, several produce items, occasionally a dairy/egg item, and a farm to market bread item sometimes they have locally produced sauces, pickles, etc. too. For the $25 sign-up fee, you get a t-shirt, two very nice quality canvas grocery bags, and a cookbook.

in the GA CSA (I'm assuming the same will be true for the Pick 5?), each item was assigned a point value from 1 to 4. You were always welcome to trade out your items as long as the point values matched up. You can trade for other items in the bundle that week, or they have 3-4 items that are always available for trade (I think eggs and milk were two of them).

I only did their CSA once. At the time, I didn't really have a Hen House close by (though, now that I've joined Woodside, I am at the Fairway store more often!), so it was inconvenient for me to make it over to get my pickup during the required hours.

Generally, I've found that, with the literal bounty of farmer's markets in the metro, I prefer to go to the markets, converse with the farmers, and pick out what I want on a week to week basis. Of course, then, I was not focused on eating natural/organic/free range meats and produce, so suddenly I'm reconsidering either the CSA or at least the pick 5 for this year. i'm wondering if participating in the CSA could net a discount on the GNFF meat items if you used your trades. I buy their chickens when they're on sale (though, Pisciotta Farms will start having chickens available at City Market in two weeks... they use the growing methods featured by Michael Pollan in Omnivore's Dilemma).

With a Wednesday CSA pickup, I could then supplement from the farmer's market on Friday/Saturdays.

Sorry to ramble, but I hope that this helps!

CJ