I did for for a few month--in winter (CA so we did get things!). We ended up getting too many vegetables and didn't keep it up. I felt bad composting so much, but there are limits to how much you can handle! Spring and summer vegetables/fruit in CA would of course be marvelous.

Anyway, we were forced to try (and to identify) some things we'd never tried before and some we still buy. Heck, some we planted in the garden! It's really a fun thing to do, especially if you aren't normally very experimental in the veggie aisle.

I don't think the CSA movement would have had a chance before the internet. It was fun to try to match up the list of things we got with the items, but some of the recipes the CSA offered were a little too healthy for us.

I have an inlaw who wears a CSA belt buckle and it always makes me smile and think hippie organic veggies. :) My spouse, being a smartypants, had to ask him if it meant community supported agriculture which of course it doesn't...awwwww I do love the little things my spouse does.

fori,
OK so I had a DUH moment...I honestly had to stop because my first reaction to the CSA belt buckle was "Of course it stands for Community Supported Agriculture. How cool!" Then it hit me! Can you tell I'm a product of the 60's and a New England gal???

I haven't tried a CSA but the farm down the street offers one. We have one farm in the area that offers meat and poultry shares as well and our local fishermen's coop now offers CSS for seafood.

Oh boy, I'd love a CSA for fish and seafood!

I don't participate in a CSA because I have a huge garden and grow my own vegetables. I think I grow enough that I could sell a couple of CSA shares, LOL.

But the garlic scapes? Oh yeah, I've grown garlic and I always use the scapes. Sometimes I use them as "green garlic", just chopping them up like you do.

One member said that she made a "pesto" with them and this recipe was posted by Chase on a prior thread about garlic scapes and as a double bonus, it uses your swiss chard too:

Absorption Pasta with Garlic Scapes and Wild Mushrooms

Serves 4 as a side dish, or 2 as a main course.

8 oz pasta (I used orecchiette)
1 medium onion, 1/4" dice
2 C low sodium chicken stock, simmering
1 C heavy cream
olive oil
2 T butter
4 oz assorted mushrooms, cleaned and sliced irregularly
4-6 garlic scapes
1 oz Parmeggiano-Reggiano, shredded
1 T truffle oil
3 oz baby Swiss chard, stems removed, chopped coarsely
salt
hot sauce, to taste

Place the cream in a small saucepan over medium low heat and allow to boil gently until reduced by half.
Sauté the onion in two tablespoons olive oil about 6 minutes on medium heat, stirring, until translucent. Add the pasta and toss in the oil until the pasta pieces are well coated with oil. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock, stir and cover tightly. Reduce heat to medium low and allow the pasta to simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. After about 10 minutes, give the pasta a stir and see that there is still adequate liquid in the pan. Add more stock if necessary  different pastas will absorb different amounts of liquid. ItÂs not necessary that all the liquid is absorbed so keep the bottom of the pan wet throughout the cooking.

While the pasta is simmering, heat some olive oil in a sauté pan until very hot but not smoking and sear the mushrooms, tossing constantly, until they are browned at the edges. Remove to a side plate. Toss in the scapes and sear on all sides until they start to show some black blisters. Remove to a side plate. Add the 2 tablespoons butter and stir, scraping up any bits from the pan, until the butter turns a golden brown. Remove from heat and stir in the reduced cream.

When the pasta is cooked, stir in the butter/cream mixture, the cheese, the Swiss chard and the mushrooms. Allow to stand for a minute or two to let the chard cook, correct seasoning if necessary and then turn into the serving bowl. Arrange the seared garlic scapes on top.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the garlic planted last year, so no scapes for me. :-(

Annie

We enrolled in our local CSA last year and liked it, so we are in again this year. So far, we've gotten peaches, spinach, cabbage, potatoes, leeks, peppers, tomatoes, and, unfortunately, lots of zuchini and summer squash, which we both hate.

Ya, we got a "couples box" which we are sharing with another couple and we still have a lot of produce. We pick up at a drop location nearby and they have an exchange box - so if you have something you don't think you'll use you can leave it there for someone else. And you can take from the box if you want something. I thought that was a good idea. I wish I had a suitable space - and time - to have a garden but alas I don't. This is a fun alternative.

We did it one year, and it was really fun. I was exposed to a lot of produce I'd never had. There were some weeks when I couldn't eat it all, but the stuff was such good quality that I usually froze it for winter or dried it out in the oven so it would keep longer. I did find that it was too many greens for me early in the season, so I switched to the farmer's market, but I still buy a lot of the weird stuff and am glad I did it.

I hadn't read your post when I posted something similar (see Garlic Scapes?)... The farm I got my free scapes from also has a CSA, but I'm not a member. I just made this bean dip/ spread I found on a NYTimes site. yummy!!

Annie's recipe also looks really good! glad I looked in :-) Enjoy your scapes, and your CSA...

Here is a link that might be useful: White bean and garlic scapes dip

I've been a member of a CSA for almost a year now. I've not had a lot of issue with items that I've not seen before. My challenges are getting a lot of an item that I've rarely cooked before and therefore have a somewhat limited repertoire. I grew up in the Midwest, so my experience is more along the lines of zucchini and summer squash. Here it is eggplant and okra. I've found some great recipes for both, but I'm always on the lookout for more because they will be in my CSA box for months. I've already gotten eggplant in my last couple of boxes and I know I was still getting eggplant well into the fall last year. Good thing I like it! LOL

I do it, and I'm in Los Angeles. Mine lets me opt out of stuff we're not wild about (there's only so much zucchini that thrills my family), but I'm usually pleased with what we get. Since we normally shop at the local farmer's markets, the CSA is more like a delivery service than anything else.

This week we're supposed to get collard greens. I've never eaten those let alone cooked them. I found a simple recipe on Epicurious that sounds good - no ham hocks. Everything I saw at first included ham hocks. This just has butter, olive oil, garlic and lemon and it got good reviews. I think garlic scape season is now over in Minnesota.

Wow, I'm jealous. I was not pleased with the CSA I joined a couple of years ago. I had to drive to the farm, bring my own bags or boxes, and pick my own produce from their displays. I was not impressed with the quality of vegetables I got. The carrots had not been thinned properly so they were deformed and very dissimilar in size. The squash was horribly overgrown as were the lemon cucumbers. The herbs had all bolted and the tomatoes were just slightly larger than cherry size. I ended up having to go to the farmer's markets not only for fruit but for basic summer vegetables like squash, eggplant, and tomatoes.

I tried the CSA because I was having back problems and couldn't put in a garden that year. Between the gas money, the disapointing quality, and my ending up going to the farmer's markets anyway, I decided last year I wouldn't renew my membership. The CSAs you're describing sound so much better.

Gibby, I love collards. I usually just clean them, take out the tough stalks, then cut the leaves into shreds and saute them with some onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil.

I do like them cooked for a long time with smoked pork too, and Elery's favorite way is to cook them in chicken broth, tossing in some diced tomatoes right at the end.

Annie

shambo, being that I'm a bit of a forum zealot, I posted a question on another local forum asking if anyone in my area was a member of a CSA farm. I got some feedback like yours and one person who was actually a member of one of the farms I was considering. She gave it fantastic reviews so I signed up right away and have not been disappointed. I can imagine that there is a lot of variation between them.

Annie, ya I've read a lot of good things about collards - rave reviews about how great they are - hopefully I'll like them. So far I've eaten everything that's come my way - I like vegies though. I'm not vegetarian but I could go a long time without meat and never miss it.