CSA Share Information

What is a CSA?

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) enables farmers to distribute produce directly to customers over the course of a growing season, with a weekly share. By buying a share in the farm for the season, the CSA member reserves a portion of that season’s bounty.

This model helps farmers by ensuring weekly sales and providing capital during the slow winter and early spring months. It provides the resources for a successful season from the beginning, as well the security of having committed customers throughout the season.

A CSA share also benefits the member by bringing you the bounty of each week’s harvest. We set up the shares to make sure all members get a mix of the fruits, veggies, and herbs available each week. What you get changes from week to week, season to season. This may mean heavier bags when the tomatoes and melons are in than earlier in the year, when greens are the bulk of the share.

We hope to reciprocate your investment in the farm by giving you plenty of produce. While we cannot guarantee what the season will yield, we strive to provide our members with more value than they have paid. This reflects the members’ commitment to our project, and our gratitude for their support.

What does the share look like week to week?

What you get week to week changes with the season, but some things stay consistent. You can expect a choice of herb bunches almost every week, as well as some sort of allium (garlic, onion, leek). For the last couple of seasons, there’s been salad greens of some sort (almost) every week. Cooking greens are often, but not always, on the table.

Early summer— Strawberries for the first couple of weeks, snap and snow peas, the first of the cucumbers and summer squash

Mid summer— Cucumbers and summer squash, bunches of beets and carrots, green beans, the first of the tomatoes and cherry tomatoes

High summer— Cucumbers and summer squash, tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, maybe a watermelon. There’s also a weekly choice between more limited summer specialities and odds and ends— shishito peppers, husk cherries, black and raspberries, okra, edamame, new potatoes.

Late summer— Peppers and eggplant come around for a little bit, while the last of the other summer fruits trickle in. Table grapes show up for a few weeks. Cooking greens and carrots and beets show up again.

Fall— Roots and greens dominate the table. Expect a mix of potatoes, carrots, beets, turnips, and radishes of all kinds. The salad mix and cooking green bunches shine in the cooler weather. Hopefully a little bit of broccoli, cabbage and winter squash pop up. The long thinning tail of tomatoes and peppers usually extends until frost.

How much does it cost?

We offer two share sizes to accommodate the needs of different members. The main difference between the two share sizes is the amount of each item you’ll receive— two pounds of carrots instead of one pound, for example. The variety of different vegetables will be similar regardless of share size. Each week, you’ll receive between 6-10 different items.

The full share costs $800, or $630 to $870 on the sliding scale. This is about $35 per week, and fits the needs of a household of three to four. It also could work well for one or two people who do a lot of cooking!

The half share costs $600, or $540 to $660 on the sliding scale. This is about $25 per week, and fits the needs of one or two people. (The “half” share is about three-quarters the size of the full share.)

We provide shares on a sliding scale based on self-assessed income and economic resources. We believe that everyone should have access to fresh and healthy vegetables, regardless of economic status. We hope that the sliding scale allows members to join the CSA by paying only what feels right and comfortable to them. We offer the lower payment levels to make membership more accessible to those with lower income or economic privilege. If you have higher income or greater access to economic resources, consider paying above the middle of the scale; this allows us to subsidize the lower cost shares.

CSA payments can be made in check or cash. The farm can also accept EBT payments for CSA shares. Your EBT payment will be doubled, just like at the farmer’s market. You can pay all or part of your share with EBT. Let me know if you’d like to pay for your CSA with EBT when signing up, so that we can work out a payment plan that works for you.

We ask that upon registering, members send in a deposit of at least $100 to reserve their share. If you can comfortably pay a larger deposit before the season starts, we appreciate it! Early spring can be a tight time on the farm’s wallet…

Half of the remaining balance is due by the first pickup of the year, and the second half is due by the middle of the season at the end of August. If you might need an alternate payment plan, let us know on the sign up form and we can work something out.

How do I pick up my share?

There are two options for a market-style pack-your-own-bag pickup, one on the farm and one in Providence.

The market-style pickup gives you some choice over your share items. We’ll lay out the week’s harvest, and you come and fill your bags. This allows you to mix and match to your choosing. For example, you can pick which potatoes you’d like to take— big or small, yellow, red, or purple, or some of each. Or sometimes the choice will involve different options— a box of cherry tomatoes or a box of tomatillos. Or a bunch of kale versus a bunch of chard. This way, you get to pick exactly what you want. These pickups are both on Tuesdays. The farm stand pickup is from 12:30 to 3:00 PM, located at the corner of Walnut and Prospect Streets in Seekonk. The Providence pickup is from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, located at Farm Fresh RI, 10 Sims Ave.

What if I can’t pick up my share?

If you can’t make it to pickup, you can send a friend to pick it up instead. Or we can bag up a share for you and leave it in the cooler at the farm or at my house in Providence. Just make sure to send a text or phone call before the end of pickup. If we don’t hear from you by the end of pickup, we can’t guarantee there will be a share available for you that week.

If you miss a week, you cannot double up your share on a following week.