Native Offerings CSA

I have been a member of Native Offerings CSA for about 5 – 6 years now, and every summer I look forward to their farm fresh produce grown using organic practices. There are 4 different options for pick up: in Orchard Park on Tuesdays from 3:30 — 6:30, at the Williamsville Lehigh Depot on Wednesdays from 3:30 — 6:30pm, and in Buffalo at Lafayette Church on Thursdays from 4 – 6:30pm. I actually pick up at the Williamsville location, and like another reviewer said, if you go later in the pick-​up time there may be a narrower selection of produce. However, if you go at 3:30pm, you run into the rabid soccer moms fighting for that last bunch of cilantro. So I try to target 5:00 for selection and my own sanity.
There are 3 types of shares: full, small, and individual. We are a family of 2 so I’ve always gotten the individual share. It’s not an overwhelming amount of vegetables, but its not enough to last me the whole week (I supplement with Wegmans and farmer’s market for items I want that aren’t in the share). A typical individual share is 1 – 2 bunches of greens or lettuce, 1 pepper, 2 zucchinis, ¾ pound of green beans, choice of a bunch of beets or carrots, a bundle of herbs. There are usually substitutions if there’s something you aren’t a fan of. They post on their website and on Facebook what the anticipated vegetables are that week, although sometimes there will be a variance, since you are dealing with Mother Nature. This year the individual share works out to about $ 13 a week, but you pay up front for the season (although there is an option to pay in 2 installments).
One of the things I love about being a part of a CSA is the opportunity to try new vegetables that I’ve never eaten or cooked before, and it forces you to get really creative with your cooking! Things like bok choy, collard greens, tomatillos, Japanese turnips, swiss chard… I discovered my love of these items through the CSA. The beginning of the summer share is heavy on the greens, but at the height of summer you’ll be enjoying some amazing produce, picked fresh that morning.
I had done the fruit share for the last 2 years, but this year I’m not going to renew. It just got to be too much, even though I split a share with my friend. I just didn’t have the time to deal with 3.5 pounds of peaches. However, I’m sure this year I will look longingly at the fresh strawberries that always smell so delicious!
You can now manage your share online, such that if you know you’re going to be out of town a certain week, you can move that share to another week for pick up. Or if you forget last minute, you can have a friend pick up your share.
There are still shares available for this summer, just go to their website and sign up! You won’t be disappointed!

The farm itself is in Little Valley, NY but this review is for the Elmwood pick-​up site.
The produce is abundant, fresh, and delicious. They share farm news and recipes on Facebook and their website.
I love Native Offerings and I want to lay out exactly what makes it stand out:
Pros:
1. You never have to drive to the farm. They bring all the produce to the Elmwood Lafayette Church on Thursdays.
2. You can pick what you want (to an extent). There is a board that says how much of each item you get and some things are set (one bunch of carrots) and some you have a choice, for example: one bunch of beets or radishes or turnips; one head of lettuce from any of the three kinds; kale or arugula or mizuna or bok choi, etc.
3. There are three sizes.
4. All the vegetables are organic and local.
5. It includes fresh herbs and you usually get a choice or what you want.
6. If you know you’re going miss a week, you can double up the week before or week after. Every other CSA I know of makes you find a friend to pick it up or donate it.
7. Great variety without anything too wacky.
8. They post the vegetables on Tuesday (two days ahead) so you have a heads up for your grocery shopping or meal planning.
8. Members can purchase oranges in the winter, trucked in from Florida.
Cons:
1. Pick-​up starts at 4pm and if you can’t get there, you might find your choices limited. The cilantro could be gone and you can only have basil or the asparagus is gone to you get beets picked last year.
2. Pick-​up ends at 6:30. If you miss it, you miss it. No veggies for you.
3. It’s not the least expensive (but not the most expensive, either.)
4. This season the small share seems smaller than last year. It is supposed to be ²⁄₃ the size of a full share but so far, it full share seems almost twice as large. I don’t know if this will right itself as the season presses on, but I am surprised.
5. The vegetables they post on Tuesday aren’t always what you get Thursday. There is another pick up site on Tuesdays, and I am assuming it accurately reflects their share, but come Thursday, you find the rapini they promised is no where to be found but there is asparagus that no one mentioned.
Native Offerings also offers a fruit share which includes berries but is mostly stone fruit. Some of the fruit is organic but most of it is just low spray. Apparently tree fruit is hard to do organic, especially peaches. I did the fruit share last year but it was just more than we could handle. Two committed fruit lovers could possibly manage it if you plan in advance to freeze some or you’re not also doing the vegetable share.