The 6 Steps to Using Your CSA Box Each Week

After talking to a lot of my CSA veterans, I’ve heard a thing or two about what they do each week to help them use up their box and prevent food waste.

Some of them were obvious tips.

Others were a-ha moments for me.

As we begin the CSA season, I thought it would be helpful for our CSA newbies to get a big-picture overview of how to work with your CSA box during the week.

And so today I’m sharing the 6 steps to using your CSA box.

Lettuce is considered a “Danger Zone” veggie and requires immediate storage.

This is based on feedback I got in my research of actual customers who’ve been doing this a long time (and are good at it). And although no one person indicated they were consistently doing ALL six of these elements, many of them showed up time and again.

So look at this list as the “Perfect World” procedure, and frankly, if you’re doing even 3 of these, that’s pretty good.

So what are they? On to the good stuff….

Step 1: Find out what’s in your box.

Each Sunday we send you a list of what to expect in your box the next week over email. Our members told us that checking this email early on in the week really seems to help them use the product.

It makes sense if you think about it. Simply knowing the ingredients you have to work with starts the brain percolating. So even if you don’t meal plan all in advance on the weekend (and most people don’t), when you are ready to finally decide what to eat, you’ve got an easier time figuring it out.

Step 2: Pick up your box (and protect the temperature). Bring a cooler if needed.

CSA members get their veggies delivered to them in a beautiful plastic Sterilite tote each week. And if you’re heading right home from the delivery point, you’ll be fine just taking the box as is.

But if you’re one of those customers that has an hour of errands to run, or you want to walk the Perrysburg Farmer’s Market for a few hours and get some dinner – then you should definitely bring some kind of insulated cooler to transfer your veggies into.

Hot temps are killer for veggies and will quickly diminish their shelf life. They’ll also wilt your greens… fast!

So pack a cooler if you must. Otherwise get your product home to safe temps as soon as you can.

Step 3: Store the “Danger Zone” veggies first.

Take those tops off the carrots right away. Another example of a “Danger Zone” veggie.

CSA members have learned that protecting the shelf life of your veggies buys you more time to use them all before the end of the week.

So you need to learn which veggies are at greater risk than others.

I know it’s tempting to come home and just throw your feet up. And if you just leave your box on the counter for a few hours (or overnight) it’s not the END of the world.

But CSA veterans have learned the hard way that there are SOME veggies that require your attention THAT DAY, or you’ll pay for it later.

Which ones require immediate “dealing with” when you get home?

It’s a short list: carrots and greens.

Carrots: Chop the tops off your carrots.

Store the roots in the fridge in a bag. (You can save the greens for pesto or put in a freezer scrap bag to make veggie broth).

If you don’t do this, your carrots will get floppy. And with Kurt’s carrots being THE favorite item for most people, there’s nothing sadder than floppy carrots.

Greens: Throw anything leafy and green in a plastic bag in the crisper. BOOM.

If you’re really intentional, wash and spin them dry and pack them in a Green Bag. But hey, if you can’t get to that step, at the very least get the greens in the fridge in a bag.

This keeps them from turning limp. This goes for herbs like parsley, lettuce, chard, kale, beet greens, arugula, pea shoots, spinach, etc.

If you only have a little time, take care of these “Danger Zone” items and worry about the rest later.

Step 4: Find a way to keep track of your new inventory.

This step is one of those “optional” steps. Not everyone does it.

But I put it in the 6 steps because it seemed like it really made a difference in helping people use up their box each week.

If you’re like me, your produce (and anything else in the fridge) can get buried by the fridge monster.

This happens in my freezer too.

So coming up with some kind of system to keep the produce in front of you – so you know it’s there – helps you use it up.

There are two solutions that kept being brought up in my interviews.

Solution 1: Write down the veggies you get each week on a white board on your fridge. Be sure to keep the items you still have from last week on the board too.

Then circle the items that are old or “Danger Zone” items. This reminds you to use those first when meal planning.

Solution 2: Put all the older produce in one section of the fridge (a crisper drawer or shelf), and put the new produce in another section. In other words, divide them by location.

That way it’s easier to identify the items you should eat first.

Maybe you develop another system that works for you. The system isn’t what matters. What matters is that you come up with SOME way to “know” what you have to work with.

Step 5: When you plan your meals, use this principle: “Eat items with a short shelf life first.

In other words, eat the “Danger Zone” veggies first. Or things that are getting older.

This requires a shift in how you eat for sure. It means you don’t always get to eat what you most WANT to eat. Rather, you eat what you HAVE to eat first.

You’ll get used to it.

So for example, if you bring home some arugula in your box, be sure to make a meal that uses the arugula within the first two days. Because if you wait until day 4, it’s just not gonna have as many options for you. You’ll probably have to throw it into a pasta because it’ll be a bit wilty.

This is an important shift to make though, because if you DON’T, you’ll find that you’ll lose produce because you didn’t honor its shelf life.

And we all hate wasting food. (Don’t we?)

Step 6: At the end of the week, use the vegetable “exit strategies” to get rid of the leftover items in your produce.

So this won’t apply to everything (like cabbage for instance which can hold for weeks). But if you get to the end of the week, and you see something in the fridge (like kale?) that isn’t inspiring you, walk that veggie through the grid of exit strategies to see if you can “get rid of it” for long-term storage.

Can you blanch and freeze it? Or just throw it in a Ziploc bag and freeze it? (You’d be surprised how many veggies you can do this with).

Can you put it in your veggie scrap bag for making veggie broth later?

Could you roast it with a bunch of other stuff and freeze it?

Can you turn it into a pesto and freeze it?

Could you make a big stir-fry that night? Or a pot of “everything” stew?

Can you compost it?

(Ha ha. Okay gotcha there. But seriously, it IS okay to sometimes throw something away. It happens to all of us).

These exit strategies are so vital to learn because they are fast and easy ways to get rid of food.

I always tell newbies that if you focus your time early on in the CSA season to one thing, it should be learning the top 5 exit strategies.

Learning them gives you a “quick win” and a big bang for your buck.

And that’s it! Six basic steps to follow to successfully get through your whole box

Remember, if you’re in our CSA, you can access the PDF visual guide that outlines these 6 steps in our membership site.