Any experience with CSAs?

[Anonymous]

We are vegetarian family of 2 adults and 1 toddler. All of our week day foods are homemade, we use very few if any cans and we buy produce from Giant/Safeway/Costco. There is a CSA near us and I am wondering if it is worth spending $500 for 4 months. Anyone used CSAs? What do you think? Or all of it depends on the farm that is offering it? This is the first time we have an opportunity to join CSA and any input is appreciated. TIA.

[Anonymous]

I think a lot depends on the delivery day and how much time you have for preparing meals. DH and I both WOH and only have 20-30 minutes to throw dinner together. Our local CSA delivered mid-week. We only had time to grocery shop on weekends. Because we didn't know what would be in the box, we couldn't buy complementary things at the store prior to the box arriving and by the time we got to the store days after the box was there, the veggies weren't always at their freshest. I'd say we wound up enjoying less than half of what was in each box, and still wound up buying lots of produce at the store anyhow. We quit after 1 season. If we had more flexible schedules, it would have been great.