Green Gardens 2010 CSA Information

The 2010 CSA at Green Gardens is all full. Please contact the farm at trent@greengardensfarm.com to be on the 2011 waiting list.  Green Gardens' 70-member CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program will run every week from June 8th to October 29th in 2010. CSA members will receive a weekly box of vegetables, melons, and herbs from the farm on White Rabbit Road. Here are the details...

What's in a Box?

Boxes will have a nice variety. We understand that getting the same produce over and over again is boring and makes eating a chore. Not to worry, we will provide you with recipes weekly in your box - some traditional basics as well as new, tasty combinations. Staple crops will be emphasized because they are most versatile and commonly consumed. These include tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, winter squash, beets, radishes, turnips, broccoli, onions, garlic, sweet peppers, lettuce, etc. Greens such as kale, swiss chard, collards, mustards, and salad mix will also be commonplace in the boxes.

Unusual crops will also be part of the boxes from time to time. Kohlrabi, pac choi, fennel, hot peppers, melons, tomatillos, eggplant, etc. are limited crops that will show up in the boxes on a weekly basis. To get a better sense of what will be in the boxes at certain times of the year, check out our 2010 monthly produce availability.

The produce is always fresh, normally harvested 1-2 days prior to being placed in your box. All produce comes from the soil of Green Gardens Farm. We do not buy any produce from any other growers to put in the boxes. By doing this, we can guarantee the quality and freshness of the produce.

Examples of CSA Boxes:

Photos of 2010 boxes at Green Gardens Community Farm...

Spring Box: 1/3 LB Salad Mix, bunch of radishes, bunch of Purple Top Turnip, 1 bunch of kale, bunch of collards, kohlrabi, green onions, bunch of Swiss Chard, bunch of cilantro, bunch of garlic whistles

Summer Box: 4 sweet peppers, 2 LBS of red potatoes, 8 summer squash/zucchini, 1 pint of cherry tomatoes, 6 ears of sweet corn, 1 LB of tomatillos, 2.5 LB of tomatoes, 6-8 baby eggplant, 1 bunch of cilantro

 

Early Fall Box: 1 bunch of beets, 5 sweet peppers, 2 jalapenos, 1 bunch of kohlrabi, 1 bunch mustard of greens, 1 bunch of kale, 1 pac choi, 1 bunch of carrots, 1 bunch of Hakurei salad turnips, 2 summer squash, 2 delicata winter squash

Later Fall Box: 1 bunch of kale, 1 stalk of brussel sprouts, 5 eggplant, 1 pac choi, 1 bunch of Japanese spinach, 5 bulbs of garlic, 4 sweet peppers, 2 ancho peppers, 2 sugar dumpling winter squash, 1 bunch of Hakurei salad rurnips, 1/3 LB arugula.

Here are some examples of what a bunch may look like:

               Swiss Chard                                           Mustard Greens

     Hakurei Salad Turnips                            Beets

 

French Breakfast Radishes        Cherriette Radishes

Each weekly box is likely enough to feed...

1. A family of six light vegetable eaters for one week

2. A family of four moderate vegetable eaters for one week

3. A couple who are heavy vegetable eaters for one week

4. One vegetable-eating machine!

With farming, there are simply no guarantees when it comes to having crops. Numerous things can go wrong. Excess rain, early and late frosts, pests and diseases, and lack of time can all hamper crop production. Fortunately, most things go right most of the time. Sharing the risks and reaping the benefits of the harvest is an integral component of the CSA concept. CSA members will be updated with crop-growing information, farm gatherings, and recipes via newsletters at least bi-weekly.

One-half shares may be available in 2011 or 2012, not 2010.

New Add-On for 2010: Flowers!

A flower share will be available for approximately 8 weeks of bouquets of flowers from the farm. The bouquets will include a wide assortment of flowers: sunflowers, zinnia, black-eyed susan, amaranth, celosia, gomphrena, cinnamon basil, eucalyptus, and grasses.

Here is a good example....

Cost will be $60. They will be delivered in buckets of water to pick-up locations.

Since these are freshly cut flowers, they normally should last 6-7 days in a vase.

 

Will All the Items in the Boxes be for Sale at the Market or the Farm?

Many of them will, some of them won't. Since CSA members have decided to invest so heavily in the farm, we intend to give them priority when we have a limited amount of a certain crop available. This means that hierloom tomatoes and other unusual crops may be in the boxes, but not at the farmers market or farm stand.

Is the Produce Organic?

The farm follows the standards as layed out in the National Organic Program for organic growers. However, the farm is not Certified Organic. Instead, we opted to be Certified Naturally Grown. We use composted dairy manure for fertilizer, organically-approved pesticides and fungicides only, cover cropping, crop rotations, and other techniques to reduce our footprint on the land and grow great produce. For more information on CNG and the farm's growing practices, click here.

Can I Share a Box?

Sharing a box in perfectly acceptable. It is fine for family/friends to either rotate weeks or share the contents of each box.

When and Where Do I Pick My Box Up?

There will be three days you can pick up your box at pick-up sites each week:

Tuesday: Harper Creek (4-7 PM), Lakeview (4-7 PM), North-side close to Downtown (4-7 PM), and the Farm in Pennfield from 4-7 PM (dusk later in the Fall).

Wednesday: Richland Farmers Market (from 3:30-6 PM) at the Richland Area Community Center on CD Ave.

Friday: Lakeview (4-7 PM) and the Farm in Pennfield from 4-7 PM (dusk later in the Fall).

We Want To Discourage Driving Great Distances For A CSA Box

We encourage people not to be CSA members if they are required to drive more than 10 miles and/or cannot group box pick-up with other members. Driving great distances to pick up a CSA box is not a sustainable practice. When we talk about lowering our food miles, we must also factor in how far we drive to get our food. Having a pick-up spot close to you makes the CSA concept sustainable! If you don't have a CSA farm near you, consider organizing your community and hiring a farmer. This is how many CSA's have started.

What If I Can't Pick Up My Box?

If you nor anyone you know can pick up a box for you at the drop site, there are several possible options. We can hold your box for you at the farm. We have a cooler at the farm and it can remain in there until you can pick it up. You can also donate the box to a local non-profit/food bank in Battle Creek. Or, you can can tell us that you simply don't want us to prepare a box for you for a certain week. In that case, the produce would likely be sold at the Farmers Market, instead. No money is returned for boxes that are not used during the course of the season.

What does a CSA Share Cost?

Shares will be $425. This is the same price as 2009. Early payment discount will not be available this season, although if you want to pay early that is fine. Despite breaking even in 2009, the farm still has considerable debt from 2008 and has invested in a $10,000 high tunnel (greenhouse) for early tomatoes in 2010, so the extra revenue is sorely needed. 2010 boxes will be of higher value than 2009's, including more salad mix, earlier tomatoes, more potatoes, alliums, and lettuce.

The $425 price tag works out to be roughly $20/week. We believe this is a fair price for premium, local, sustainably-raised, and healthy food.

If you would like to break this down into two or three payments and pay in January and February that will work, too! I have time to be an accountant in January and February!

When Do I Pay?

Please pay $425 to the farm by April 1, 2010. Checks can be made payable to Green Gardens and sent to the farm at 8319 White Rabbit Road, Battle Creek, MI 49017. No deposit necessary for 2010.

A membership agreement will be sent out in late January to remind you of your balance and membership details.

The 20% OFF CSA Member Discount

All CSA members are entitled to a 20% off discount on all additional orders made from the farm at the Farmers Market or through the online farm stand.

 

Other CSA Tidbits!!!

•               Watch a movie about CSA farms in Michigan from our favorite Michigan musical artists Seth Bernard and May Erlewine!

•               Listen to a Maryland organic farmer discuss the CSA concept.

•               An article from the NY Times about the recent growth of CSA's across the country.