Have you ever belonged to a farm share?

[aristocatz]

We just joined this year (recently moved out to the country) & we love it!

The price works out to $1 per pound of tons of organic fresh vegetables. It is also exposing us to try a bunch of vegetables we have never even heard of in the past! & on weekends we get to go & pick our own flowers, herbs, and strawberries right from the fields. We are really having a lot of fun with this & plan to renew our membership next year.

Anyone else currently a member of a farm share or done this in the past? I highly recommend it!

 

[java]

I have not yet but will next year. I missed it this year.

My brother is vegan and has a full share where he lives. And they are considering doubling the order.

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it.

 

[Magic Mom]

How does it work?

 

[java]

How much is your share if you don't mind my asking?

Our local organic farm offers a workshare opportunity. It's a 3 hour per week commitment.And it offsets the cost. But I have no idea how much that cost is. There is no info on the website since they are sold out for the season. I'd like to try it.

I'm growing some veggies myself- but not eggplant or garlic like they have at the farm.

 

[aristocatz]

How does it work?

To make it easy to explain, I have copied and pasted the answer from our farm share's website:

How the CSA Works:

Members purchase a ‘share' of the farm in advance of the growing season. This fee helps support the costs of running the farm and in return, members visit the farm weekly from June through October to pick up their share of produce.

Shareholders select a pick up day when filling out the agreement form, and we ask that you pick up your produce on the day you selected for the duration of the season.

Extra produce will be donated to a local shelter serving folks in need. Remember that if you go away on vacation one week, you can also choose to donate your share to the shelter. There is no work requirement for shareholders although volunteers are always welcome.

 

[aristocatz]

How much is your share if you don't mind my asking?

Our local organic farm offers a workshare opportunity. It's a 3 hour per week commitment.And it offsets the cost. But I have no idea how much that cost is. There is no info on the website since they are sold out for the season. I'd like to try it.

I'm growing some veggies myself- but not eggplant or garlic like they have at the farm.

We paid $450 for 5 months worth-we get a HUGE amount of a variety of organic vegetables and some organic fruits once a week. It's more than we need (there are only 2 of us), so we cook & freeze any leftover veggies & we are figuring out how to dry the herbs to last through winter. Plus, we can go multiple times a week to pick our own fresh herbs, flowers, and strawberries. We usually do the U-pick on Saturdays. Strawberries will be done soon & we will get to pick raspberries instead.

I love that it's all organic. I also like that you pay in advance and get to just enjoy the next 5 months. You sign up in October and put down $100 & they let you pay the rest over the course of the year until it starts up on June 1st.

Oh-and they do not require you to help out or make any work commitments at our farm share-you can volunteer if you want, but it's not mandatory to be a member.

 

[Kurby]

is this just an american thing?

it sounds great but i've never heard of it here in ontario

 

[aristocatz]

is this just an american thing?

it sounds great but i've never heard of it here in ontario

Not sure-I hadn't heard of it until we moved out to the country.

 

[Pigeon]

This is my third year and I love it. I actually split a share with another person and we both have families of four. We have a small garden, and we don't buy veggies for about 5 months. It's great. I wish they had fruit, too. Ours was about $550 for the season (late May to early-Oct.), but we pay half, so it's a very good deal.

 

[aristocatz]

This is my third year and I love it. I actually split a share with another person and we both have families of four. We have a small garden, and we don't buy veggies for about 5 months. It's great. I wish they had fruit, too. Ours was about $550 for the season (late May to early-Oct.), but we pay half, so it's a very good deal.

That's a great idea to split the share! We are just a family of two & we are allotted way more food than we need, but we are learning how to store it for a later time. We are still fairly new to our area & just starting to make friends so we don't know anyone else who is looking to join.

 

[lajones81]

Here is a favorite website of mine:
http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

 

[Pigeon]

That's a great idea to split the share! We are just a family of two & we are allotted way more food than we need, but we are learning how to store it for a later time. We are still fairly new to our area & just starting to make friends so we don't know anyone else who is looking to join.

Even with splitting the share, I end up trying to make soups and other dishes I can freeze with a lot of the veggies, because we can't keep up with it all during the height of the season.

 

[tasha99]

I had never heard of these, but they sound like a great idea. Thanks OP! My local ones are full, but I'm going to get on mailing lists and try to get into one next year.

 

[npmommie]

We have also done this in the past and like it. I didn't sign up this year, but will be visiting farmstands frequently

 

[bicker]

Ditto. It is something we're considering for a future year.

 

[powellrj]

We looked into this spring, but the one we looked into only offered a limited assortment. Things we would want like beans, corn and the more kid friendly produce weren't offered. Instead it was lots of the greens type like kale, collards and tomatoes.

I checked the link and it seems a new one opened this year not far from us. They are going to be at a farmers market we always attend, so I will check it out.

I would love it if we got a large assortment that included fruit. What a great deal! Ours was $450 for a whole share and I just wasn't sure we would use $450 when I had to supplement with other veggies.

 

[bicker]

Does Indiana have a native, summer fruit crop?

EDITED: Answer: Blackberries (mid-summer); Blueberries (mid-summer); Cantaloupe (late summer); Cherries (early summer); Peaches (late summer); Plums (mid-summer); Raspberries (late summer); Strawberries (early summer); Watermelon (late summer)

 

[powellrj]

Does Indiana have a native, summer fruit crop?

EDITED: Answer: Blackberries (mid-summer); Blueberries (mid-summer); Cantaloupe (late summer); Cherries (early summer); Peaches (late summer); Plums (mid-summer); Raspberries (late summer); Strawberries (early summer); Watermelon (late summer)

The co-op we looked into was an inter-city one so there were no fruit offerings. While there are many native fruits, many aren't available in our area.

Things like cantaloupe, watermelon and peaches aren't grown around here and are more southern Indiana crops. You can get them when people bring a truckload from southern Indiana and sell them off the back of the truck on street corners.

We did buy some U-pick strawberries this year, but most of the things aren't available to buy and are mostly grown for personal use. I have never seen things like plums, raspberries, blueberries or blackberries ever sold at a farmers market.

You can gets lots of different apple types and rhubarb. We use to grow raspberries at our old house, but have never had any luck at this one.

We are lucky in that we have several choices for organic meats and free range eggs that sell at farmers markets. We don't even have a farmers market anymore and have to drive 1/2 hour to get to one but like I said they have meat and eggs and baked goods so its worth the trip.

 

[RunDanceSkate]

is this just an american thing?

it sounds great but i've never heard of it here in ontario

We have it here in Ottawa. You can either pay for a share or let them use your backyard for a garden and get your share for free. In the end we spent the same amount of money as a share and built an awesome square foot garden in our yard. The neighbours are jealous. They never thought we could get so much planting area in a city size backyard. 96 square feet of planting space tucked into the back corner that we never used.

Cindy