Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is the partnering of farmers and growers directly with the people that will eventually
eat the bounty. This arrangement is proving to be of benefit to everyone. Farmers get to do their marketing in the beginning of
the season which finances the growing for the season and provides some income to the farmer while the crops are maturing, and
also allows the farmer to focus on growing during the season rather than spending much of their time selling what is ripening
in the fields.
The shareholders get fresh produce every week that's been picked just hours earlier, and a direct connection with the people
that grow their food. CSA's often offer opportunities to visit the farm and get involved too. The level of involvement offered
varies by CSA, but some offer work in the fields or in helping with the weekly share distribution. The CSA might also organize
social gatherings, or make and preserve food from the harvest.
Once again I'll be working with other farmers, individuals and groups to share resources, ideas and perhaps realize some economies
of scale. This website is to promote and develop those alliances, and in some cases the others involved
may offer their own CSA share arrangements as well. The CSA arrangement offered here is one that you will be making with me,
Calliope Sullivan.
Community Supported Agriculture comes in many different varieties following a few basic themes, such as
Teikei
in Japan, the CSA model developed here in North America,
and newer variations such as week by week subscription services.
If you haven't heard yet, for the 2010 season I will be joining forces with Nikki Hill of RiverHouse Farm
in Sellwood where I am now a farmer-in-residence. One of the reasons for the collaboration is that Nikki and I think so much alike when it comes to
farming and feeding people, and we realized we can be much more effective working together which will give us each time to focus on other farm
related projects. So all that you read here will still very much hold true as I move my farming efforts over to
RiverHouse Farm and all the exciting things happening there.
RiverHouse Farm CSA will be offering a traditional CSA model with these features:
- Available shares purchased in advance of the season on a first-come basis provides early season operating expenses for the CSA
- Season length is determined in advance with you receiving your share of the harvest each week of the season.
- Pre-assembled box of produce or "market-style" pickup where you get to make up your own box. You specify which you'd like.
- No labor or participation required by you other than picking up your weekly produce at a pre-arranged time
We are still focused on giving you as much flexibility as we can in your CSA, so we've included the most attractive parts of different
subscription models, such as the "market-style" distribution option. Market-style means the weekly produce is laid out like you'd see
at a farmers market. This allows you some choices in putting together your own weekly box, to give you
plenty of the things you like, or keep you from getting too much of something that's not a favorite. As always, we love hearing from you about
what works and doesn't work for you so we can continue to work towards developing our own style of CSA model that works for as many of our
subscribers as possible.
During the 2009 season we grew well over 100 different varieties of vegetables, fruit and herbs, and are planning
to further increase the variety in the 2010 season to include more of everything including seasonal cut flowers, and vegetable
and herb starts if you'd like to get started with a bit of your own gardening. There is still some time for seed planning for this
season if you have favorites you'd like us to plant.
The 2010 Summer/Fall share will be 20 weeks beginning in early June. The cost for the 20 week season is $500.00 for pickup in
Sellwood on Thursday afternoons, and a new Sunday distribution at the Hawthorne Urban Farmers Market.
You'll find all the details at the RiverHouse Farm CSA website at: http://riverhousecsa.wordpress.com/
Thanks,
Calliope
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