Our CSA program is the heart of our farm. Read on to see how it all works. Please be in touch if you have any questions!
1) What is Community Supported Agriculture?
5) Where do members pick up their weekly shares?
1) WHAT IS COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE?
Simply put: Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a direct, personal relationship between you, the eaters, and us, the farmers. You pay up front for a season’s worth of fresh vegetables grown right here on our farm, and every week we provide you with an ample share of the harvest. The first two CSAs in the United States began in 1986. Now there are somewhere near 2000 of them!
There are many compelling reasons to join the Frog Bottom Farm CSA. Among them:
Fresh, homegrown food just tastes better! We pick all our vegetables at the peak of ripeness within a day or two of delivering them to you. Everything is incredibly fresh. And because we don’t have to transport anything very far, we choose what to grow based on what tastes good — not what can withstand a cross-country journey in a refrigerated truck.
This is by far the most cost-effective way to eat naturally grown, pesticide-free vegetables. Your fridge will be full every week, for less money than you’d spend for the same items at the farmers market or the organic section of the grocery store.
In this age of industrial food scares, you can rest easy knowing your family is eating vegetables grown without pesticides on a small farm. We grow on about 10 acres and we tend to every plant with our own hands. This means we don’t have to rely on dangerous chemicals to keep pests under control. (You can read more about our growing practices here.) And because we’ve seeded, transplanted, fertilized, and picked every plant, we can answer any questions you have about where your food comes from and how it was grown.
When you buy a share in our CSA, you help strengthen the economy here in central Virginia. When you buy directly from an owner-operated CSA like ours, we’re able to keep farming full-time. And the money you invest in our farm is reinvested right here, on everything from worker wages to mechanics’ bills, gas and groceries and compost and chicken feed. Supporting a small family farm does so much to maintain and enrich vibrant rural and urban communities.
Supporting a local farm is also a way of being a good steward of the earth’s resources. We do not use and will not ever use any chemicals that harm the water, plants, or animals around us.
It’s easy! Pick up your food at the farm or at a convenient central location, and learn about what’s in your share and how to cook it by reading the farm blog.
It’s fun! You’ll try foods that are new to you, and learn new ways to cook old favorites. You’ll learn so much about how food is grown, what grows when, and what a real working farm is like! Pick up your weekly share on-farm if you like, meet other like-minded folks at our monthly potlucks, or just come on by for a visit!
In a nutshell: as soon as possible, send in a registration form and arrange payment. We sell out before the growing season begins, so the earlier you sign up, the better. Starting the first week in June, you’ll receive fresh, in-season vegetables and herbs every week for 26 weeks, through Thanksgiving week. Pick up your share at the farm, or at a convenient drop site in Richmond, Lynchburg, or Appomattox. Learn about the vegetables, get recipes, and follow the farm season right here on our website, at the Farm News & Blog section.
We offer full shares and half shares. In a full share, we aim to provide enough vegetables every week to feed a family of four, or two vegetable enthusiasts. A half share is half as much food. Our approach is to grow honest, delicious food — to provide your family with lots of staple vegetables, with enough diversity to keep it interesting. You’ll find information about your share on the farm blog every week, along with recipe suggestions. The exact contents of the share depend mainly on the time of year: different vegetables grow at different times!
Here are three real examples of what a full share looked like at different points during our 2009 growing season. The same weeks in 2010 won’t contain exactly the same items, but this should give you a good idea of how the season evolves and how much food to expect. (Remember, a half share is half as much food as this.)
A week in mid-June: 2 heads lettuce, 2 eggplants, 1 1/2 pounds beets with tops, 2 bunches scallions, 1/4 pound bag basil leaves, 3 pounds mixed summer squash
A week in late August: 1 1/4 pounds mixed summer squash, 4 cucumbers, 4 pounds tomatoes, 2 melons, 2 sweet peppers, 2 hot peppers, 2 pounds onions, 2 pounds potatoes, 2 bunches Swiss chard
A week in early November: 1 pound beets, 2 pounds rutabagas, 2 pounds cooking greens, 2 bunches cilantro or dill, 1/2 pound arugula, 2 heads broccoli, 2 winter squash, 2 sweet peppers
To give you a a more comprehensive look at the whole season, here’s our anticipated harvest schedule. Remember that variables like temperature and rainfall can change things.
Early summer possibilities (June – early July): beets, carrots, chard, cucumbers, eggplant, fennel, fresh herbs, garlic scapes, lettuce, radishes, scallions, summer squash, sweet salad turnips, tomatoes
Late summer possibilities (late July – early September): cantaloupe, chard, cucumbers, eggplant, fresh herbs, garlic, onions, sweet and hot peppers, potatoes, shallots, summer squash, tomatoes, watermelon
Fall possibilities (late September – November): beets, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celeriac (celery root), celery, collard greens, cucumbers, eggplant, fresh herbs, garlic, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard greens, onions, sweet and hot peppers, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, summer squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, turnip greens, watermelon, winter squash
A full share costs $650 (equivalent to $25/week) plus VA state sales tax. A half share costs $350 (equivalent to just over $13/week) plus VA state sales tax. Some folks split a full share with a friend or neighbor – you’re welcome to do that.
We accept payment via check, money order, credit card, or debit card.
Checks and money orders should be made payable to FROG BOTTOM FARM and mailed to us along with your completed registration form.
If you’d like to pay by credit or debit card, we will invoice you via email after we receive your registration form, so that you can make a secure payment using PayPal.
We do offer payment plans. You can learn more about that on the registration form.
5) WHERE DO MEMBERS PICK UP THEIR WEEKLY SHARES?
You can pick up your weekly share at the farm or at a central spot in your city. We’ll ask you to choose your site before the CSA season begins.
Our 2010 pick-up locations are:
- RICHMOND: NEAR WEST END – St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 6000 Grove Avenue. Saturday mornings 8am – noon.
- RICHMOND: CHURCH HILL – Central Montessori School, 323 North 20th Street. Wednesdays 4pm – 7pm.
- RICHMOND: GINTER PARK – Ginter Park Presbyterian Church, 3601 Seminary Ave. Wednesdays 4pm – 7pm.
- RICHMOND: MIDLOTHIAN – CSA member home, Sutters Mill Court. Wednesdays 4pm – 7pm. Exact directions will be emailed to you.
- LYNCHBURG: Old Rivermont Fire Station, 1210 Rivermont Ave. Wednesdays 4pm – 7pm.
- APPOMATTOX: Baine’s Books & Coffee, 205 Main Street. Wednesdays 4pm – 7pm.
- and AT THE FARM!
Children are very welcome at the farm! There’s plenty of room to run and play. And this year we’re building a family discovery garden! We hope it will be a fun and inviting spot to learn about how things grow. No dogs.
Click here for a printable registration form.
