2010 CSA Garden
We are opening our CSA again this year for our fourth year, after a one-year hiatus.
What is a CSA?
CSA stands for "community supported agriculture." A CSA is a community of individual or family members who support a farm operation, with the farmer and the consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Members buy their shares in advance, which help cover the farmer's anticipated costs of the seeds, soil amendments, labor, etc. In return, once a week the members get a share of that week's harvest, whatever it may be. A CSA is fun for adventerous cooks and anyone who likes really fresh, just-picked garden vegetables.
About Our Garden
Our garden is run by beginning farmers and is committed to growing by organic principles, even though we are not certified organic.
That means no chemical pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers. We use compost, animal manures, liquid kelp and other natural products to promote healthy soil and plants. For pest control we practice crop rotation and companion planting, use fabric row covers, hand remove pests, and (rarely) approved sprays such as garlic oil, neem oil or others allowed under organic standards.
CSA Details
Our share price for 2010 is $500 for 16 weeks of produce with no deliveries one week in August, a total season of 17 weeks.
A share is suitable for a family of 2-4 people.
The season will run from the end of May/early June through mid-September, with the exact start date determined by when our first crops are ready.
We offer pickups here at the farm on Sunday afternoon (exact time to be announced). With 10 or more members we can also deliver to locations in or near Baltimore, Hagerstown, Frederick, and Silver Spring/Bethesda.
Click here for a PDF of our flyer and commitment form if you would like to sign up. Our deadline for memberships this year is February 19th.
You can also email us with any questions, call the farm at 717-573-2967, or contact our Farm Manager, KG Dinning at 301-788-3632.
Everyone enjoys visiting the garden!
What Do We Grow?
We offer 8-10 varieties per delivery, starting in the spring with lettuce, spinach and other greens, scallions, radishes, arugula, young tender turnips and baby beets, and (weather permitting) some peas.
Our summer plantings include lettuce, fun heirloom tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, snap beans, summer squash (zucchini, crook neck and pattypan), swiss chard, bok choy and other greens, basil, cilantro and parsley, cucumbers, sweet turnips, beets, potatoes, cantaloupes and flowers.
For an early fall harvest we plant acorn squash, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, pumpkins, more lettuce and cool-season greens such as kale and arugula. The summer crops such as tomatoes, squash, peppers, beets and turnips continue to produce through the first heavy frost as well.
