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I haven't joined a CSA yet, though we have talked about it. I just wanted to say how jealous I am of joyyy, since living in Ontario there is no possibility of my finding nopales in some future box (nor grapefruit but that's OK with me). Lucky!!! :D

heh, I actually traded out the nopales for more grapefruit since it kind of grosses me out - slimy like okra. I actually probably won't be doing it again next year, at least not for the whole fall-winter-spring season since I end up either out of town or unable to eat all of what I get (not so great when you get 5 bags of different greens!). It's been fun though!

We're still at the very beginning of the growing season in the midwest.
Rhubarb
baby bok choi
pea shoots
green garlic
radishes and their lovely greens (try a saute like spinach- delicious)
pop corn dried on the cob
herb packs for planting/growing (basil, cilantro, parsley, thyme and oregano)

Mine starts on Wednesday and my farm is in Westchester NY. Will keep you posted as I think ours might be similar

I work on a farm in RI and our last CSA we had: baby bok choy, spinach, arugula, baby salad mix, radishes, salad turnips and chard.

So Simon what you got sounds pretty standard. Unfortunately I think the things you are looking for might not be the easiest or more profitable for farms. The thing about a CSA is you kind of get what there is so you really have to look for a farm that fits what you're looking for.

P.S. Asparagus and Jerusalem artichokes are perennials and therefore harder to manage. I've never even seen them at farmer's market's in my area. Can you get them where you are?

My first pick up is this weekend, I can't wait. This will be my first year. It looks like we will be getting rhubarb, lettuce, onion tops, greens, peas and strawberries. I live in southeastern MA so things are just getting started. I do volunteer at the farm a bit and was lucky enough to help harvest strawberries last week and brought home a ton...plain, shortcake, on my cereal, strawberry bread, strawberry coffee cake, and some in the freezer for later. Yum.
We will also have eggs, local honey and local cheese at times.
I am going to try to go the whole season (ours is 16 weeks) without buying any produce from the grocery store, only my CSA goodies and the Farmer's Market which starts next weekend. I think I am going to have to find a way to make myself enjoy greens in the beginning!!

@Simon - you will be pleased - I used my amazing detecting skills instead of writing in and asking what is CSA? - Wikipedia says it is called Community Supported Agriculture - I really love the concept, although I had not heard of it before. Someone from Canada wrote to this thread saying she gets it in TO, so now I am thinking, who knows, it may be available in my city! How would I go about finding out? I have seen no ads in the paper or on TV - do you have a suggestion whom I could call? Or, perhaps @CanadianFoodieGirl could give me some advice. Thanks.

Thank you for this thread - I live on a farm and it's fun to see what the rest of the country is growing: I'm baffled by the grapefruit and tomatoes already!

Though I obviously don't do CSA, our farm does, and I'm starting to figure out it's a lot like how I grew up. Like CSA we ate what was available, when it was available, and if it was in excess. We do "pick your own" and try to steer people towards things we have more of. The things that are harder to grow, harvest, and/or are more expensive we don't usually include in CSA. You might find less variety and fewer "interesting" products in a CSA bundle, but it still helps the farmer out a lot.

This horrible rainy New England weather has been perfect for our greens, we have beautiful lettuce and chard, especially. We're hoping to have peas by the end of this week.