Most CSA groups offer vegetables as their basic share. But some groups also offer fruit, herbs, flowers, bread, cheese, eggs, yogurt, beef, honey, maple syrup, and most anything else you can produce on a farm. First of all, you must be an accomplished grower. With a farmers' market, you leave your failures at home and bring what you have. But with the CSA shares, you can't just have a bagful of cabbage and that's it.
People expect a variety of good things.
One of the most frequently cited factors in failed CSA groups is that the grower did not know how to grow a diverse, bountiful harvest. Several seasons of selling directly to people at farmers' markets or through a farm stand can help you learn what items customers like and how to produce them. Slack Hollow Farm in Argyle, New York has about a dozen local members in its CSA group, who pick up their shares in the barn's washing area. The CSA members cover a small percentage of the farm's operating budget, with most of Slack Hollow's seven acres of vegetables sold through a food co-op in the region. Across the Hudson River, Roxbury Farm in Claverack grows 25 acres of vegetables for nearly 700 members.