Boulder Belt Eco-Farm Share Initiative like a CSA only more so...
The Endless Share Table for 4-5-12 had the following choices
Green Asparagus Take 1 pound as an "item"
Lettuce-1/2 pound bag as "item"
Scallion 1 bunch as an "item"
Rainbow Carrots 2 pounds as an "item"
Chives 1 bunch as an "item"
Beets 1 bunch as an "item"
Leeks 3 as an "item"
Beet greens 1 pound bag as an "item"
Cilantro Small bag as an "item"
Fresh Oregano Small bag as an "item"
Fresh sage Small bag as an "item"
Kale 1/2 pound bag as an "item"
Mizuna 1 pound bag
Shallots 2 as an "item"
Music Garlic 1 as an "item"
Fresh tarragon Small bag as an "item"
Rutabagas 1 as an "item"
Members come to the farm and "shop" from tables piled with freshly harvested produce from our farm. they get to fill their shares with what they want in the amounts they want up to 6 items for a small share and 12 items for a large share
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What We Grow
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We Sell the Best and Compost the Rest
What the farm share members got in their share, May 18 2011. This is how our members eat, you can too by joining the Boulder Belt FSI
Farm Share Initiative 2012 Season Wanted: Hip and Informed Foodies
for the past 15 years our Farm Share Initiative (FSI) has supplied our members with a weekly share of seasonal food grown on our sustainable farm. Like other such programs, members are basically investing in the farm harvest, much like buying shares of a company stock and are paid with a weekly "dividend" of food. Members also get the rare privilege of seeing where and how their food is grown and thus they become much more knowledgeable about and connected to their food and the farm upon which it is grown. The more knowledge one has about where their food comes from and how it is grown, means the less they will have to use the industrial food system as their proxy as to what food they put in their bodies. By eating more locally and supporting local farmers and farms, all of us can have a safer, secure and much more sustainable food system and healthier lives. Joining the Boulder Belt Eco-farm Farm Share Program is a great way to do all of this and more.
2012 Farm Share Program's Nutz and Boltz
Season Length
. The 2012 season will be split into 4 "seasons" consisting of 12 weeks each.
Season 1 runs May 7th to July 28th
Season 2 runs August 6 to October 27
Season 3 runs November 12 to Jan 28 2013 (large shares only)
Season 4 runs Mar 6 2013 to April 24th 2013 and is limited to Endless Share membership only
Membership Options
We offer 3 Options;
Endless Share a 44+ week membership consisting of up to 12 items weekly
Regular share 12 week membership consisting of up to 6 items
Large Share 12 week membership consisting of up to 12 items.
Cost
Regular shareShare cost is $250 for a 12 week season.
Large Share costs $400 for a 12 week season, seasons 1 & 2. Season 3 costs $450.
Endless Share Cost is $1500 for 44+ weeks (very limited availability) of a large share (up to 12 items weekly)
Pick-Up On farm pick up only. Pick up days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. In past seasons members from a certain area car pooled so no one had to pick up more than once a month and, in many cases, less often. We have members from Eaton, Richmond, IN, Dayton, Preble County, Oxford and West Chester/Fairfield currently. If you are from one of these areas we can hook you up with others. If you are not from one of these areas but don't want to drive out to the farm every week consider getting some friends and neighbors involved with you, the more the merrier.
We used to do the CSA delivery thing but found that by doing so there was zero connection/community between the CSA members and the farm. We feel that CSA is an amazing way to reconnect eaters with where and how their food is grown. This is perhaps the most important aspect of the CSA idea/ideal. But in order for this to happen the eaters have to come to the farm. So that is why we have on farm pick up only.
The Crops We grow over 50 different crops including peas, lettuce, onions, garlic, carrots, beets, strawberries, potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, leeks, turnips, parsnips, asparagus, rhubarb, popcorn, kale, chard, basil, sage, tarragon, oregano, dill, thyme, chives, garlic (Chinese) chives, spring mix, arugula, cantaloupe, watermelons, cucumbers, pears, apples, parsley, savory, cilantro, radishes, celeriac, green beans, dried beans, spinach, mizuna, turnip greens, Mustard, specialty melons (rare and wonderful). Take a look at our What We Grow Page for the complete seasonal list
Shares Each week members will receive a bag of seasonal food grown on the Boulder Belt Eco-Farm CSA farm. In past years we have always done a farm's choice share i.e we would harvest what was ready and pack it into shares for our members. This meant our members basically got no choice as to what went into their share. We will still have this option for no additional cost. New this year is the Market Share where we allow our members to construct their own share of up to 6 items for a regular share and up to 12 items for a large share from tables filled with the day's harvest. How it will work is in the morning before members come to the farm to pick up their food they will get an email newsletter that, among other things, will have a list of what will be available and will have an idea what they want in their share. Most weeks that will be 15 to 25, which the members will choose 6 to 12 items from the harvest tables pack them into their bags and be on their way (unless they want to walk around the farm, go fishing or help on the farm)
A large share should feed 2 to 3 vegetarians (or omnivores who already eat a lot of produce) or 4 to 6 people who are basically meat eaters A regular share should feed about half of what a large share would feed and replaces our biweekly 1/2 share. The shares are seasonal and will change weekly and monthly, for example:
Spring Large Share (May) might have the following
a bunch of chives
a 6 oz bag of spring mix
1 pound of lettuce
1/2 pound of spinach
1 pound asparagus
1 bunch radishes
1/4 pound arugula
1Lb green beans
1/2 pound snow peas
1/2 pound sugar snap peas
1 Armenian cucumber
Summer Large Share (August) might have
2 medium zucchini
5 pounds heirloom tomatoes
2 peppers
2 eggplant
1 cantaloupe
1 1/2 pint raspberries
a bunch of beets
2 large heirloom cucumbers
1/2 pound chard
4oz arugula
1 pound sweet onions
1 garlic
Fall Large Share (October) might have
1 pound potatoes
2 pound pears
1 pound apples
1 pound red onions
2 leeks
6 oz spring mix
1/2 pound heirloom lettuce
1 butternut squash
1/2 pound kale
1 pound carrots
2 peppers
1 pt strawberries
Generally, the shares, if you were to buy each item separately at our farm store, would be worth more than what our members pay for the food via their farm share membership.
Other Perks Coming to the farm to pick up one's share is a part of our attempt to reconnect as many people as we can with farms, but it is not enough. We email all our members a weekly newsletter with news of the farm, a list of what is in the share (there are often a few unfamiliar items) and usually a recipe. Read past farm share newsletters here. We have periodic Farm tours with a pot luck dinner here on the farm. We open our farm to our members (and their family/friends) to walk around and enjoy. We have a pond stocked with fish if you want to try your angling luck any time. Many of our members do take time when they pick the shares for their group to look around the farm and enjoy the beauty here. While we do not require work hours as some CSA programs do we do welcome any volunteers to help us out.
Flexibility We have been running CSA type programs on and off (more on than off) for the past 15 years and one thing we have found is that it is best to be flexible. So, unlike some other CSA programs, we do not have 20+ week seasons but rather have broken down our growing year into 12 week sections. This allows members to not be tied down for a long time and possibly miss out on a lot of shares
Refunds Like many other CSA type programs, we require our members to share the risk of farming with us. Farming is inherently risky, we do what we can to minimize the risk such as planting a wide array of different crops, succession planting, using crop protection such as hoop houses and row covers, not to mention our expertise at growing food crops. So far we have yet to have a major crop failure in 18 years of farming, but it could happen. But if we can make it through the 2011 growing season without missing a week and never shorting our members despite really horrible growing conditions most of the year, starting with spring floods and going into record heat and drought conditions for 3 months in the summer, than we can make it through almost any growing season. If the weather makes it impossible to grow crops, we will not be issuing refunds as this is the risk we all take (and while members might be out up to $1700, we farmers will be out tens of thousands of dollars and possibly our home). We also do not issue refunds for missed (forgotten) pick-ups. Missed shares will be donated a local Food Bank. We will send out an email newsletter each week reminding all members to pick up their share(s) along with other information. If you know that you will not be around to get your share, find a friend or colleague to pick it up and use it in your stead. This way the food will not be wasted and you may well turn another person on to the wonders of being a CSA member
To join the Farm Share Initiative or for more information Email Us We will never sell or trade your email address
