1. You are a shareholder!When you purchase a CSA share, you have a special stake in the growth of a small business and local farm. CSA members are the foundation of the sustainability of small local farms and our vision for what sustainability looks like in a rural / semi-rural setting. 2. Special vegetables Varieties only for CSA Members!We are NOT growing tomatoes for the Farmers Market this year. Sadly, it’s a race to the bottom as far as tomatoes go in this region, therefore we are growing tomatoes ONLY for CSA members and Campbell’s Creelsboro Country Store Restaurant. If there are any additional tomatoes to sell, we may bring those to market, but we are not growing tomatoes for the market in mind. A short note on a few new varieties that you did not see from us last year that will be included in CSA shares: Sugar Snap Peas, Herbs (Cilantro, Dill, Parsley), and Dinosaur (Lacinato) Kale will be back. I won’t go through everything we’re growing right here and now (Over 20 different Vegetable Crops at any given time). All Vegetable Varieties will be included in the next CSA email. 3. CSA Members get first dibs on produce!Talking about the Farmers Market, there would be Saturdays where there was an unusual rush on a particular item and it would be gone by 8 or 9 a.m. CSA members do not need to worry about not having their favorite item because CSA members take first priority! 4. Above and beyond the value of the Vegetables themselves!What you would pay for a CSA share will be for the value of the vegetables themselves. What you will receive in addition to the value of the produce you receive will be a sense of food security, recipe guides, storage guides, a stronger sense of community, maybe a special event for CSA members??, and the knowledge that your hard earned money is being recycled back into the community and strengthening the local food system. 5. You eat healthy all season! (We’ll provide tips on storage and batch-cooking throughout the season when surplus produce may become overwhelming)CSA’s are a commitment and when you purchase a CSA share, you commit to eating healthy all season. But don’t feel intimidated by having to eat everything every week or feel guilty about throwing something away. We’ll provide information on batch-cooking. Make enough for leftovers. Or pre-cook a bunch of your food and freeze it as an ingredient for a dish you'll make later. We’ll help you embrace the power of freezing. Whether it's simply throwing your veggies into a Ziploc freezer bag, blanching them first and then freezing, or pre-cooking a dish and freezing it for later... don't feel like you have to eat everything we give you that week. 6. Weekly Recipes from our kitchen to yours (CSA member recipes are welcome to share with others)It isn’t always easy to look at a raw vegetable and magically incorporate it into something delicious and satisfying. I know there are some great cooks out there and that may be you, but we’ll still guide our CSA members along the way and make utilizing our weekly shares a snap. 7. We may partner with another local farm on certain items to add additional variety to boxesWe don’t believe that small farms should have to or need to be able to grow every vegetable or meat product under the sun. This allows for small farms to work more cooperatively and specialize and carve their own niches. I don’t have acres upon acres to grow expansive swaths of melons and squash, but other farmers do and I plan on buying in certain crops just for CSA members to have optionality. A special note and caveat being that I don’t know of another local farmer that is Certified Naturally Grown or Certified Organic, except Hill and Hollow Farm in Edmonton (Someone correct me if there are additional farms that meet this criteria for being CNG or C.O. that are Local-ish). I will make special note of something that is not grown to our standards if we do offer it. 8. Certified Naturally Grown Produce and Flowers every week!Lastly, I must remind you that we are Certified Naturally Grown. The same standards as the Certified Organic label you see on the shelves in your local grocery store, with the main differences being that the organization is grass roots and that other CNG/Certified Organic/Extension Agents are able to perform farm inspections! A part of my membership is my duty to inspect another farm once a year, as well!
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