– Our CSA shares are sold out for 2013. You can still visit the farmstand or farmers market! –
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. The CSA model allows the subscribing customer an opportunity to support a farm by purchasing a member share at the beginning of the farming season. This is when many of the expenses come up for the farm, such as seeds and soil amendments. Then, throughout the season, the CSA member receives a weekly share in the delicious bounty produced by the farm.
Our CSA model is unique. Our urban circumstances are unique, and therefore, so is our CSA program.
While most farms divvy up the goods they grow into boxes for subscribers, we offer our CSA members the opportunity to pick and choose from the available harvest each week.
As a subscriber, you will be able to decide what vegetables you want and when. Our members pre-pay for their share at the beginning of the season, then shop with us at the farmers market or farmstand as often as they want, picking out whatever items they want. Shareholders receive a discount and the ability to pre-order items before they go on sale. And you get the knowledge that you’re supporting our enterprise and sharing the season with us!
So here’s The Nitty Gritty:
- Buy in at $250 or more
- Receive a 5% discount if you buy in before February 28, 2013.
- FIRST, Send us an email at citygrownsea@gmail.com to see if we still have shares available.
- THEN, Send us a check. You can send your checks to 4108 Eastern Ave. N., Seattle, WA. 98103
- Please include with your check, your phone number and email address so we can get in touch with you.
- Use the money in your CSA account to pick up produce of your choice at the farmstand or farmers market.
Here’s a hypothetical example demonstrating the beauty of the City Grown CSA!
Last year Mark and Mary both signed up for boxes from a traditional CSA. They loved the freshness and quality of the produce, but they each had frustrations with the weekly boxes. Mark’s problem was that he hates beets. Almost every week for 20 weeks, Mark received a bunch of beets in his CSA box. He had to give them away to his neighbors! Mary, on the other hand, really loves beets! As soon as she started receiving beets in her CSA box, she wanted to make a huge soup pot of borscht. But she only got one bunch of beets per week and so she had to store them up for a month before she had enough to make her borscht.
City Grown’s free-choice farmstand-pickup CSA solves the problem of both the beet-lover and the beet-hater. This year Mary and Mark decide to buy in to City Grown at the beginning of the season. Mark decides to buy in at $200 and Mary at $400 because she has three kids to feed! They write checks for $190 and $380 because shareholders get a 5% discount! They are now City Grown shareholders with account balances of $200 and $400. Each week throughout the season, Mark and Mary have the option to come to the farmstand and pick out vegetables. When they decide to come, they take their pick from the bunches of carrots, beets, lettuce, etc that have been harvested that morning. Mary can take 5 bunches of beets if she wants. Mark can take none.
Mary’s total the first week is $15 for 5 bunches of beets, so she subtracts $15 from her running total in her farm account. She notes that she has $385 left to use at the farmstand. She goes home happy and makes borscht for her three children.
Another week later in the summer, Mark realizes he can’t make it to the farmstand during the open hours to pick up vegetables for a big dinner party he’s throwing the next day. He opens up his email and reads the fresh sheet that City Grown sent out earlier in the morning. From the listed vegetables he picks out carrots, potatoes, onions and broccoli and emails in his CSA delivery order. In the afternoon, a delivery cyclist drops the veggies off at Mark’s house. The price of the veggies plus a $5 delivery fee has been deducted from Mark’s account at City Grown. The $5 has been credited to the account of the delivery cyclist for her to use to buy her own City Grown produce! Mark got his veggies without having to leave home AND paid for some fresh produce for a City Grown volunteer. He’s so happy that when his account reaches a $0 balance before the end of the season, he decides to add $100 more!
List of Planned 2013 Crops to whet your appetite:
- Arugula
- Purple & green pole beans
- Beets – Detroit Dark Red & Touchstone Gold
- Bok Choi
- Broccolini
- Cauliflower Romanesco Veronica
- Carrots – Orange & Purple
- Rainbow Chard
- Collard greens
- Cucumbers – mini Persian
- Heirloom Garlic vatieties
- Kale – Lacinato(Dino) & Red Russian
- Lettuce – Green Romaine & Red Summer Crisp
- Mustard greens
- Onions, Bunching
- Onions, “Walla Walla Wallingford”
- Parsley – Italian flat leaf
- Peas – Sugar Snap
- Pea vines
- Peppers – Carmen (sweet red Italian heirloom)
- Potatoes – fingerlings
- Radishes – French Breakfast
- Salad Mix, mild and spicy
- Spinach
- Summer Squash yellow & green
- Tomatoes – Stupice (red tomatoes)
- Tomatoes – Sungold (orange cherry)
- Turnips – Japanese salad turnips
- Sunflowers & other flower bouquets
- Heirloom dry corn – Painted Mountain
