Our Growing Practices There's a lot more to growing great food than meeting the Organic Standards and not spraying chemical fungicides, herbicides or using synthetic fertilizers. While its important that we don't do any of those practices, we also do a lot more to care for the health of our soil and plants. By making probiotic solutions and microbiologically rich compost we continue to feed our soil food web which in turn takes care of our plants. In 2020 are also working towards becoming a no-till farm and using hand tools for all of our cultivation work.
How Does Our CSA Work? A produce club, also known as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an alternative, local based economic model for food distribution that promotes sustainable agriculture as well as the livelihood of local farmers.
This is a program where you subscribe by paying for a share of the farms produce at the beginning of the season. This creates a mutually beneficial relationship between the farmer and the consumer.
It provides working capitol for us to purchase needed materials at the beginning of the growing season and, in return, we dedicate ourselves to growing your produce and providing you with fresh, nutritious, and bountiful vegetables. **FOR 2021 WE ARE LOOKING AT CUSTOMIZED CSA SHARES IN ADDITION TO THE TRADITIONAL BOX MODEL. ALSO, THIS YEAR THERE WILL BE SEVERAL ADD-0NS FOR PURCHASE, SUCH AS A GOAT DAIRY SHARE, EGGS, AND VALUE ADDED ITEMS LIKE KOMBUCHA, KIMCHI, PICKLES, JAMS AND JELLIES AND MORE!
Where do I pick up my food? Shareholders will pick up their food at the farm in Cahone on Friday afternoons anytime between 4:30pm to 6:30pm.
How much food is in a share? Our shares will generally feed two people who value and like to eat lots of fresh, live food. If you are only an occasional veggie eater then our shares may feed up to 3 to 4 people a week.
Shareholders will also have the opportunity to purchase farm fresh eggs and a raw goats milk share after becoming CSA members.
What produce can I expect? Generally the shares will have seven to ten unique items in the box and the items will vary according to the season. Here's what we are hoping to have in your boxes during this upcoming season:
Beginning of the Season: Butterhead Lettuce Kale Beets Radishes Sweet Salad Turnips Bok Choy Carrots Baby Chard Garlic Fresh Herbs Microgreens Zucchini
Later in the Season: The vegetables listed above plus: Cherry Tomatoes Heirloom Tomatoes Garlic Eggplant Broccoli Onions Cucumbers Peppers Cabbage Parsnips Winter Squash
We pride our selves on growing the main staple crops that most people enjoy eating on a regular basis. Since we are a two person farm that grows all of our crops using hand tools (ie., no tractors in our fields), there are some crops that we choose not to grow - mainly potatoes and lots of cut greens like spinach and arugula. From time to time we may put these into the rotation, however the above list are our main planned crops. And, while we don't plan for fruit in our CSA, if it is a good fruit year and we have an abundance we will gladly share with you!
Thanks for checking out our CSA and let us know if you have any questions! Contact Michele at (970) 403-2895 or songhavenfarm@gmail.com