Community Supported Agriculture

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Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a socio-economic model of agriculture and food distribution. Members of a community pledge their support to a farm so that the farmland holds an intrinsic value to both the growers and its community supporters. This concept helps to provide a direct market for growers while allowing consumers to get fresh, local products on a consistent basis.

Teikei

Teikei, literally translated as "food with the farmers face on it" in Japanese, originated in Japan and is commonly referred to as community-supported agriculture in the United States. Although there are discrepancies of who first gave life to Teikei, it is believed to be alternative form of agribusiness developed by a group of Japanese women joining together to buy fresh, raw milk in the 1960's from a local dairy farmer. This concept bloomed and has become part of many different cultures that are attempting to sustain local foods and farmlands.There are currently many different models for a CSA program which incorporate all different agricultural products.

Green Hill Urban Farm's Community-Supported Agriculture Program

One important factor that needs to be evaluated by anyone interested in joining a CSA program is that you are sharing with the farmer the risk of potential crop failures. We cannot guarantee the amount or selections of products you will receive during the season due to the variable nature of farming.

Past Seasons Data

For 2009 we picked 5,334.36 pounds for our 56 shares in an 18 week season. Attending all pick-ups, each share should have received 95.25 pounds, at 5.29 pounds per week on average. At $250 dollars per share for 2009, our shareholders paid approximately $2.62 a pound.

In 2010 we chose to cap our CSA around 35 shares and ended up with 39 shares. We picked 4,956.64 pounds in a 17 week season, cut short by drought. Attending all pick-ups, each share should have received 127.09 pounds, at 7.47 pounds per week on average. At $325 dollars for 2010, our shareholders paid approximately $2.56 a pound.

The following chart shows the differences in our production for 16 of our main crops for 2009 and 2010 seasons.

* Denotes fruit which is very unpredictable and therefore not included in the price of our CSA but provided when harvests allow. 

2011 CSA

This is our fourth year offering services in a CSA format, which we continue to adjust and experiment with as we learn in order to provide the most benefits to our shareholders that we can afford.

Our CSA program supplies fresh local produce once weekly to our share-holders. To avoid waste, we allow our members to mix and match their own selections from our offering each week. We average nine or ten selections to choose from weekly, sometimes up to twelve and sometimes as few as six. To further reduce waste we ask our members to bring their own bags/boxes/baskets to fill, but provide donated grocery bags for those who forget them.

We offer one size of share in our CSA that typically can provide for a 2-4 person household depending on diet and eating/canning/freezing/cooking habits. We do have a 3rd year member who purchases two shares for himself! We offer a $25 discount for the purchase of a second share.

How it works:

Our CSA pickup location is at Green Hill Urban Farm in West Asheville every Wednesday from 4 p.m.- 7 p.m. We set up weekly selection of certified organic produce from Two Sides Farm as well as flowers, herbs, and specialty crops from Green Hill. You fill your bag/box/basket up to your weight limit for the week, with your choosing of weekly seasonal offerings such as: arugula, beets, beans, basil, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, chives, fennel, cilantro, chiles, chinese greens, cucumber, eggplant, greens, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, okra, onions, oregano, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, melons, mint, radish, salad greens, parsnips, spinach, summer squash, sweet corn, sweet peppers, swiss chard, tomatillos, tomatoes, turnips, winter squash, and more.

************************Fruit- NOT INCLUDED in our CSA SHARES.***********************

Our fruit production is in early development and much more unpredictable and susceptible to weather than vegetables. In fruit crop failure years or things with limited production, we offer our shareholders the first chance at the limited supply at a reasonable discount to our retail prices. However, in years of abundance we have provided fruit to our CSA members for free when our harvests permit or to supplement any gaps in our vegetable production. Most reliably Pick-Your-Own raspberries, apples, and grapes. The idea is that if you are not expecting fruit you won't be anything but surprised if we are able to provide it.

What's New For 2011?

Fall crops at Two Sides-

If you are interested in Organic production requirements, read the following paragraph, if not skip the next.

We were unable to plant Fall crop fields at the Two Sides in 2010 as planned. Certified Organic production requires a cover crop composed of three different varieties (example: oats, vetch, rye or peas, wheat, clover, etc) each year. We were back-ordered on our buckwheat seed this summer and never received it in time to do a summer cover crop, thereby we had to put the entire farm down in a winter cover of Field peas, wheat, and vetch. A fall cover crop must be planted early enough to establish, usually mid Sept.-Oct around here. Since we did all of our fall crops at Green Hill in 2010, where we have limited irrigation, the extreme drought we entered in late summer delayed production and caused an early end to our CSA, which still provided a satisfactory return.

We will be Summer Cover cropping a 1/3 of the farm in 2011. For the first time, this will allow us to do Fall crops such as cabbage, carrots, turnips, brussell sprouts, spinach, lettuce, daikon, cauliflower, endive, kale, escarole, peas, parsnips, and more. This will allow us to extend our CSA season by a month or more with reliability. This will also let us start doing over-wintered vegetables like garlic, leeks, shallots, and more for the following year.

Unlimited Pick-Your Own*-

This year we are offering our members an incentive to come out to our big farm for a visit. Schedule a day(s) to come out to Mars Hill and feel free to pick your own unlimited vegetables from the fields.

* Unlimited Pick-Your Own implies shareholders own reasonable personal use (canning and freezing are personal use, giving some to all your neighbors is not). Quantities and availability will depend on interest and response from our share holders, as this is a new option with our CSA. Crop faluires or limited production selections will not be eligible.

Pricing

Our price for the 2011 season is $375 due by our first pick-up, usually the second week of May. This year we are offering a discount for members who pay in before the season starts. Make your payment arrangements by April 15 for a $25 discount ($350), or by March 15 for a $50 discount ($325). We are capping our CSA at 45 shares this year. We offer a $25 discount on the purchase of two shares.

Contact Us Today To Get Involved