CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is an important partnership between farmers and eaters. The CSA members pay at the beginning of the year for a ‘share’ of the year’s harvest. That ‘share’ is a weekly box of produce throughout the growing season. This partnership provides eaters a unique chance to support local agriculture, provides healthy food throughout the season, and gives a unique insight into local and seasonal growing. For the farmers this partnership provides a dependable weekly outlet for their food, gives them a chance to form a relationship with the folks who they will be feeding, and provides funding when they need it most.
The weekly box is made up of 7-12 items usually, depending on what’s growing. Throughout the season you will be experiencing what it means to eat a local and seasonal diet. You will be sharing in the ups and downs of the farm year and will experience what it is like to have seasons, weather, and many other real variables dictate what you eat. You will share in the bounty of some crops and may share in the scarcity of others.
Our main season CSA runs from May through November, usually a total of 30 weeks. We also provide for latecomers throughout the season if you miss the beginning of the season.
FAQs:
What if we can’t make it to one of the pick ups or are out of town?
If you are not going to be able to make a pick up please make plans to have someone pick up for you. Since you have already paid for it you might as well gift it to someone who will appreciate the food. If you can’t find anyone to take it for you, let us know and we can plan accordingly.
What do I do with all this produce?!
Our answer in short is: cook! It’s amazing how fast you can go through a box of produce with a few scratch-cooked meals or a few big salads.
What if I want more ___?
Since the logistics would be insane to customize everyone’s box, we try to give a variety of things each week in moderate amounts. If there is something that you want more of we recommend going to the farmer’s market where you can buy more from us or other farms (we give 10% off to our CSA members at the market). Sometimes we may have crop failures or certain crops may not do well, we will let you know so you can plan accordingly. If you are wanting bulk orders of something to preserve (basil for pesto, tomatoes for canning, etc.) you can let us know and we will bring it with your weekly share and we will give you a discounted bulk price. We will also let you know if we have a surplus of anything that you can order at a discounted price.
Why are we getting so much ____ in our boxes?
Although we do extensive planning and hard work, it just happens in the farming world that we may have a bumper crop for one thing while another crop may not be doing great. This is the fun of being part of a CSA! You’ll learn to eat like a seasonal food pro, and come up with great ways to eat a ton of something (like sneaking it into your kids’ smoothies…).
How do I eat ___?
Every year we give out several veggies that many folks haven’t eaten or cooked with before. This is part of the excitement of being in a CSA! Variety is the spice of life and we try to give out interesting foods each season. We will include in our weekly email ideas and recipes on how to cook things that may be new to folks. And most likely a quick google search will give you more ideas than you’ll know what to do with!
Do we need to wash our produce?
Yes. While we do give almost everything a dunk or rinse, and use no sprays, we recommend that you wash the produce before eating. Most things will look clean enough but just to be safe, or save you a bite of dirt, please wash first.
Do you offer ‘half shares’?
We don’t, but if you feel like a full share would be too much food we suggest splitting it with a friend or neighbor. We also offer a market share, which is a slightly different system that allows you to shop at the Farmer’s Market for what you want, rather than getting a pre-made box.
Please email us if you are interested or have any questions! [email protected]