CSA-Community Supported Agriculture

[nikki]

Anyone on here done this either as supply or a consumer?

We have a stand at the local small farmers market. This is my first year doing it. I originally decided to do this for fun and to "feed my habit"- I have a gardening addiction and wanted an excuse to plant (and pay for) all 20 varieities of tomatoes I wanted to try (one example!). I knew if I planted as much as I wanted even with canning etc I would have too many. I am having enough produce for the market and am starting a second when all those tomatoes (80 plants) really get ripe- but the market can be unreliable as to how many people come and what they want (nobody wanted beets, kale or arugula and I could have planted 100's of more shelling pea plants and not had enough!) plus all the extra time to pick eveything that day, go there set up and then sit there for 3 hours. I work as a Cardiac Intensive Care RN (very part-time) and looking at hourly rates and what-my-time-is-worth the market is not really cost effective. When I look at what I have spent for the market (tables, canopy, market fees to go), I would make more money working those extra hours and donating all my extra produce somewhere. It is almost like in the area I am in you need to be bigger scale to make the market worth your time (unfortunatly). We also sell eggs- free range heritage breeds- we had to lower the price because someone has eggs from a big production (not-free-range-in-small-cages-all-day-birds but still fresh) that were selling for 1$ less. (we started at 2$- they started at .50 cents- there was a compromise they went up to 1$ and ours went down to 1.50$ which is cheaper than the free-range-not-as-fresh eggs you buy at the grocery store). Anyway....

Last farmers market a guy came over to strike up a conversation and he has a CSA- providing food to 33 families this year. I am now debating next year not doing the market at all but attempting to get 3-5 families to provide for. With the CSA they get paid at the beginning of the growing season for investment in the garden seeds etc. Then once a week through the growing season deliver whatever is in season to each family. He said they take a survey in the beginning to get a general idea of what everyone really wants. I think this would solve my problem of too much produce and then would help the garden pay for itself (like maybe get me that tiller I have been eyeing literally for YEARS!). I do see that if it were to work this could be a viable way to "work" as well- if I went a little larger scale.

I am not certified organic yet but do organic garden and if I can make some sort of income from my garden would go through the whole process.

Sorry this is so long- what I am wondering after all the background is if anyone here has done this, what your experiences have been and what you thoughts if any are on the subject! Thank you!!!

[johno]

Intrigueing idea. I've been too busy working all along to devote the time for such an endeavor, but I have the space, two dead tractors, etc. My plan was to start small with the local farmer's market, but so far I've just been keeping an eye on it to see the trends. Interest in organic produce is starting to really grow here; people are paying more than they would at the store... This year my daughters want to sell my bounty at the farmers market, and pretty soon the garden will be in full swing. They can make a little bit of money this year as we make our trial run at it. Sounds like you are way ahead of me,though.

As a nurse you have probably encountered many patients who have had to change careers for one reason or another... If you have any suggestions for how to run a farmers market stand, I would appreciate them... Apparently, packaging seems to be a big part of it here, any special tips in that category?

[goldpearl]

Nikki,
I started a small scale CSA last year with the idea of expanding each year. I put a listing on Local Harvest ( www.LocalHarvest.org ) and wow did I get hits! I had to take my listing off so I could spend my time gardening and not answering emails and phone calls all day. It was not fun saying "No" one hundred ways. I wanted to find customers closer to home. I would love to relist on Local Harvest, but I'm afraid! I don't feel right expecting people to drive an hour once a week to pick up 20 dollars worth of produce! Just the pollution generated there makes me shake my head.
Go over to the site and look around the country at different CSA's and you will get a pretty good idea of what others are doing. Then make a plan, how many weeks can you provide produce and what do you expect to harvest each week X how many customers you are willing to take = what to plant (include enough for your friends, family, rabbits and grasshoppers). I am only selling 10 week subscriptions which works out good for me. If I still have alot of produce at season's end, I can sell by the week or take it to farmer's market. It's always better to have too much than too little and some weeks when things are just starting to come in you may want to alternate between customers.
Most of your customers are just like the ones at farmer's market, they are not that interested in Kale. They really want the garden staples and things they can prepare easily. I have some who don't want eggplant, so I try to personalize each share.
Keep it simple for yourself, too. I wanted to grow everything under the sun. I am still going to keep adding new things as I find space but cucumbers, squash, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra, black eyed peas and melons are the proven crops in the garden. I have 3 kinds of cucumbers, 8 kinds of squash (summer and winter), 25 types of tomatoes, 3 kinds of eggplant, 5 peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe, and herbs, too. You can add Kale but remember to include a recipe and even nutrition information and don't expect them to want it every week. Introduce them to new things and get feedback to plan for the next year.
The CSA money I receive goes right back into the garden right now and I am sure I am still pretty far in the hole, but I am like you, I love what I am doing.
One more thing you should look at is getting Certified Naturally Grown.
I would be happy to keep this discussion going and I know there are others on this forum that are interested.

[johno]

Very good info. Keep it coming!

[Lavandula Girl]

goldpearl, thanks for the link... after I read the veggie part, I found a grass fed beef supplier near us, and we'll be going next week to check it out. That rocks!

[johno]

L G - I'm pretty rusty on my latin. Care to translate?

[goldpearl]

Here is the website for Certified Naturally Grown
www.naturallygrown.org

I do plan to make money on this someday. I doubled my garden space and I am already planning to add more next year, too. I put down layers of cardboard and wood chip mulch in the pathways and bought some new hoses, soaker hoses, cattle panels for trellising and tomato cages.
There is a lot more expense than just purchasing seeds. I buy compost at the farm store since there is no way I can make enough of my own right now for all the new beds. I buy organic fertilizer, fish emulsion, straw mulch and AG molasses.
Anything I can do to save myself time planting sounds good to me. I may even hire help or ask my CSA members to contribute some hours at planting time. That is the most demanding time of the whole operation. Making up new beds is the most physically demanding part.
I think it is all coming together. I am learning as I go. I am a small operation, so I think I have a lot to learn yet. I would love to hear from others with more experience, too.

[Lavandula Girl]

Johno - Each single hair casts a shadow

[nikki]

Thank you for your responces! I posted and then did not get a chance to get back online until today.

As far as packaging we have tried to be creative with ours. We use neat wooden boxes, ribbon to tie things and fun paper for our signs. I think that there will be a bigger market for the free-range eggs and even some of the other veggies in the other market we were planning to start after the tomatoes come in. It is in a larger town and a little trendier. It really has been a good experience and we have had a good responce from people. I did start out knowing that it was going to be a learning experience. I would listen to what goldpearl said about the basic veggies and if I decide to do the market next year again I would focus more on those things. I think I may try my hand at the CSA though- maybe even if I just have a few families I already know to give it a try and see how it works. Thank you goldpearl for the links. What did you use to help decide how much to plant per person/family? Any books or links that would help me determine this? A CSA is still a little scarier to me than the market. With the market if I do not have enough or have a bad crop it is just me taking a loss- not letting people down. Goldpearl you said you are doing 10 weeks, how many families or shares are you doing? I have seen CSA mentioned more now that I am looking. I will post if I found any other good links or ideas.