Hi Ashley,
Our family receives a weekly CSA box all year long! We alternate weeks between two different companies. The benefits are many. First, I really look forward to our Thursday morning delivery of fresh, colorful and sometimes new and interesting items. It's always delightful to open the box and see what's there! Each box contains some sort of description of contents, storage tips, and recipes. Occasionally we even receive a sample of teas or dried fruits. What we receive is not always what I would buy in the store - so this means I need to get a little creative in coming up with new uses for new vegetables. This is good! Our refrigerator and pantry always have something new and fresh from the CSA. Also, good. We try vegetables we might otherwise not choose. More good. We are doing our part to eat locally sourced, organic fruits and vegetables and they taste delicious! The only negative that we have found is occasionally we get too much of a certain item. I found I could not use as many butternut squashes as I received last fall and I currently am overstocked on leeks! If there is an item that you really don't like or want to limit, however, you can usually note that with the CSA and they'll substitute something else. The only other issue is that sometimes we can't get through everything fast enough. In that case our guinea pig is the happy recipient of slightly wilted veggies. This would be true, though, for groceries I buy at the store. All in all, I very much enjoy receiving our CSA boxes and consider the $29 cost a real value.
