csa and farmers markets

Thanks for your response. I really appreciate hearing more from someone who actually participates in something like this. I do try my best to pick useful topics, that I think other people should know about especially if it does not appear to be well-publicised. Thanks for the positive comments! :) It's very cool that your friend has a CSA, but too bad you cannot participate because of your location. I hope you find a CSA near you soon or get enough crops to start your own. Have you tried searching any online databases for existing CSAs? Do the dollar stores sell produce also? I had no idea. Has this always been the case? Since you have experience with both the Farmer's Market and the CSA, would you say there is any advantage to using a CSA instead of a Farmer's Market or are they about the same in terms of affordability etc? Thanks again for your comments!

It's hard to get people to respond to informative topics. No, Dollar stores don't have produce, but they do have some called goods in my area. People are getting to be awfully poor up here. I could ask my friend about CSA participants here. CSAs-better for the Farmer, people usually come and pay that are from the neighborhood. Farmers' Markets are 10 to 75 miles away, so she eats up a lot of her profit in gas.(They're 25 to 100 miles away from me) Better for the neighborhood-less gas use, they can walk over and buy or stop in on their way to go somewhere else. If I asked her, she could probably tell me where one is. Right now my income is inconsistant and you have to be able to consistantly buy. People promise to buy x-amount a week and you promise to give them x-amount a week. With an inconsistant income, I'm better off at the Farmers' Market, I can stop in when I have money and not go when I have no money. Because she does organic, I don't think it's cheaper. She gets top dollar. She lets people go in her garden and tell her which items they like the looks of and buy. Plus she sells free range and natural eggs as well as chickens. So her neighbors only need one or two more farmers in their area and wouldn't need to go shopping 10 or more miles away at all. They also have an apple orchard in their neighborhood. You can get lots of stuff at orchards because they take in Farmers' stuff, too. So where she is, I think there is a natural beef farmer, the neighbors are happy and all set. If the price of gas goes down, who knows if she will keep their loyalty. Hope this answered your questions. Take care.

Thank you! That was a very detailed and very informative comment! :) I really love the idea of a CSA, and wish we had those here. I'll definitely try to find out more before I introduce the idea. I know a friend who has planted stuff on her land and I think the idea of a CSA might appeal to her. But I have no idea of what's a good "rate" to suggest. I guess it depends on the produce, and also on what her expectations are for profits. A Farmer's Market sounds very convenient for people who cannot be in a CSA. How do they get the farmers to agree to be in one place and sell at reduced prices though?