I've been a Philly area-CSA subscriber for 4 years and have tried 4 of them. Here are my thoughts:
Highland Orchards: This one will forever be my favorite and I was crushed when I had to cancel my subscription because I moved too far out of their drop-off site radius. They are based out of Wilmington, DE and have been in operation for over a century. What I love about these guys is that it's the best bang for your buck, you can pay week by week, you have more flexibility with deliveries, and they have the best variety of produce. Each week you'll get an herb, 4-5 veggies, and some fruit. Back when I was a subscriber in 2018-2020, it was $16.50 to get my veggies dropped off at my work site (this was back in Delaware, but it was only an extra $2 to pick it up in Rittenhouse if I recall correctly). I loved their veggie offerings and it turned me on to stuff I would never try, like celery root. You also have the option to get deliveries weekly, biweekly, or monthly, unlike most CSAs that lock you in to prepay up front and do weekly pickups. Plus they run year round, which is HUGE. Pretty much every CSA I've looked at is seasonal only, and you have to sign up for the different seasons and the pricing may vary. Rating: 10/10
Crawford Organics: Another small family farm. I did their spring share last year. It was okay. One thing with spring shares is that spring is lettuce season and you will get soooooo much lettuce. So much lettuce. Did I mention you get a lot of lettuce? Hope you like salad. They do offer repeat subscribers early sign up discounts when the next year rolls around, and they send a cool newsletter each with with what you can expect, explanations of what is going on at the farm, and recipes based on what you get for the week, which I liked. Rating: 5/10
Taproot Farm CSA: This one was decent, and the summer season was pretty long, running from June to the first week of November. They have different sizing options, and I liked the variety of what I got in the summer. They don't give you weekly herbs, which I missed, and you have to buy a fruit share on top of your veggie share to guarantee you get some fruit. I did a medium share of veggies and a regular fruit share last year and while it was all very good, it was too much for a two person household, and so I'm only doing a small veggie share this year and ditching the fruit share. I also like that you can add on a bunch of other shares, like tea, coffee, pasta, eggs, and more. You pay up front and it's pretty pricey, but like I said, I did enjoy it. I am probably going to sign up for this again this year. Rating: 7.5/10
Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-Op: This is a unique share because it's sourced farms all over the region and not one main farm. They also offer tons of cool add ons, like eggs, cheese, meat, flowers, etc. I did the fall share last year (right after my summer Taproot CSA share expired) and really enjoyed it and will do it again. The fall veggie share was 5 vegetables, and I splurged to add on the omnivore share (1 meat item is enough for 2 people, 1 lb of cheese, and 1 pantry item like tea, honey, pasta, grits, etc). I'm definitely doing their fall share again. They have fewer convenient pickup sites for me compared to Taproot though. Rating: 8/10
Others I haven't tried but have heard good things about include Philly Veg Works, which lets you customize your box, but imo that kind of defeats the purpose of a CSA since it's to try new vegetables and support local farms regardless of yield for the week.
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The things I would consider when looking at a CSA share are (1) pickup locations (is it close to where you live/work that it won't be a slog to grab it every week), (2) pricing and availability (how much is it per week? do you pay up front or per week? do they have payment plans? do you have to pick up every week? what happens if you go on vacation?), and (3) realistically, how many veggies per week will you eat and do you have time to cook (this will determine your share size that you should get)?
butterandbagels t1_j9368k0 wrote
Reply to Best CSA in the city? by Lolotopo
I've been a Philly area-CSA subscriber for 4 years and have tried 4 of them. Here are my thoughts:
Others I haven't tried but have heard good things about include Philly Veg Works, which lets you customize your box, but imo that kind of defeats the purpose of a CSA since it's to try new vegetables and support local farms regardless of yield for the week.
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The things I would consider when looking at a CSA share are (1) pickup locations (is it close to where you live/work that it won't be a slog to grab it every week), (2) pricing and availability (how much is it per week? do you pay up front or per week? do they have payment plans? do you have to pick up every week? what happens if you go on vacation?), and (3) realistically, how many veggies per week will you eat and do you have time to cook (this will determine your share size that you should get)?