Community CROPS Community Supported Agriculture Project

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) projects are a great way for you to support local farmers and get a variety of very fresh, nutritious vegetables throughout the growing season. You know exactly where your vegetables come from and the people who grow them for you. As an added bonus, the CSA run by Community CROPS funds our programs which help community gardeners and farmers to grow food for their families or for market.

2012 Community CROPS CSA Starts Soon

2012 CSA sign-up forms are now available. Here's the preferred online version: Online sign-up form.

We also have a pdf version available that can be mailed: Printable sign-up form

Click here for the CSA scholarship form. Please also fill out the full CSA application in addition to the scholarship form.

For more information on the CSA, please contact us at 402-474-9802 or e-mail us at csa@communitycrops.org.

Sunset Community Training Farm

Our farm stands apart as a training--or "incubator"--site for beginning and limited-resource growers. Each year we hold a Winter Workshop series as part of our Growing Farmers Training Program, and recruit several participants to grow alongside us at Sunset Community Farm. Each participant rents their own plot (1/8 acre-1/4 acre), where they grow vegetables to sell through a variety of outlets. Generally the largest buyer is CROPS for our CSA! This provides our growers with a steady, wholesale market, and broadens the variety of produce we can provide you with.

Work-Share Opportunities

Our work-share program was so successful last year, we are very excited for year two. Thanks again to our amazing 2011 participants, who helped us harvest and wash veggies in the field, pack produce shares, drive to drop-off sites, and handle distribution duties, all for a hefty discount on their CSA share. If work-share sounds like something that might work for you, get in touch with Erin or Margaret to talk details.

Sunset Community Farm Blog

Keep updated on all the happenings at our farm. Especially helpful if you're a CSA member, but everyone will enjoy a trip to the Sunset Farm Blog. We post loads of farm photos, news, discussions, and recipes..and you can too!

How does it work?

Before the season begins, you buy a share in the harvest. Then we grow a variety of vegetables and provide you weekly with whatever is in season!

When do we start?

The CSA season last 20 weeks, from May 24 through October 25. This year, pick-up is available on Thursdays, at the Westminster Presbyterian Church parking lot on 27th and South from 3:30 to 6:30pm.

What will your CSA box contain?

Your box will contain a variety of vegetables harvested that day. All food grown at Sunset is grown without the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. We seek to provide heirloom varieties and vegetables you don't normally see at a grocery store.

A Veggie Lover Share is designed to feed one veggie-loving family or two families with mixed diets. It will contain 8-12 different vegetables each week, including a range of less common vegetables as well as herbs. The cost for 2012 is $600 for the season, which is $30 per week for 20 weeks.

A Standard Share is meant to feed 2-4 people with mixed diets and will contain 6-8 types of vegetables each week, most of which are more 'basic' vegetables, but with some adventurous additions, too. The cost for 2012 is $450 for the season which is $22.50 per week for 20 weeks.

A Small Share is meant to feed 2 people, and could be considered a sampler box or a way to bulk up and spice up your usual veggies while making an active effort to eat more locally. We put at least 4 items in the share each week. The cost for 2012 is $300 for the season which is $15 per week for 20 weeks.

Examples of some of the vegetables you'll receive throughout the season include:

Spring: Beets, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Lettuce, Radishes, Spring onions

Summer: Basil, Beans, Celery, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Garlic, Potatoes, Summer squash

Fall: Leeks, Onions, Peppers, Sweet potatoes, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watermelon

We aren't able to customize the boxes, due to having 100+ boxes to pack every week, but we encourage you to try new vegetables or ones you don't think you like. Freshly-picked vegetables are much tastier! You can also swap out something you don't like for something you'll enjoy from the extras basket.

You can pay for your share in two payments, with the second payment due June 1, or pay all at once. We also welcome EBT as payment.

New Optional Add-ons in 2012

Egg Share -- sign up to receive a dozen, sustainbly-raised, white eggs every other week. We're partnering with Growing Farmers graduate Efrain Hernandez.

Cheese Share -- sign up for a wide and impressive variety of local cheese from Branched Oak Farm. Different options available.

Flower Share -- email our youngest grower, Mackenzie Haszard, throughout the season, whenever you'd like to bring home a fresh, seasonal bouquet with your CSA share. Available approximately mid-June through mid-September.

See the application for more details and to sign-up. If you have any interest in the bouquets, please email erin@communitycrops.org. for specifics. No commitment is required, as you can choose to receive flowers on a one-time basis, but it will help Mackenzie plan his flower beds if he has an idea of CSA interest. He is also available to arrange bouquets for special events.

Market Style Share Distribution

One of the changes we've decided to make for the 2012 season is switching from traditional box-packing to a market-style method of distributing our CSA members' produce. This means instead of bringing in your previous box and swapping with a pre-packed new one each week, you'll be bringing a container of your own and packing your veggies to take home from the weekly list.

We'll bring all the fresh produce to a central location and set up the washed, bunched, and sometimes bagged produce on covered tables, just like at the farmers' market. You'll simply go down the line and pack your share! Since the Small, Standard, and Veggie Lover share do contain different items, we will clearly post lists of which veggies to select.

For those of you who have been loyal CSA members with CROPS for years, we hope not to shake your world with this change. We are honored to have your continued support, and hope you'll enjoy this new way of "box pick-up." We understand how unpacking that box can be quite the treat, so this change came with much consideration. Market style will allow greater interaction between CSA members and farmers and will also be a more efficient use of time. Plus, you won't have to remember that pesky box every week!

You'll also receive

We compile weekly newsletters with wholesome, nutritious suggestions for how to prepare unfamiliar vegetables, along with storage and nutrition information, sufficient quantities of a few crops for putting up for winter and opportunities to come and bring your family to the farm to visit or help with the work.

You'll also be able to participate in quality cooking classes, designed around the CSA. These are available to you at just $5 per class, to help cover the cost of supplies. These cooking classes are also available to the public at our regular class fees. You won't want to miss these!

Share-a-Share

Interested in the CROPS CSA, but unable to afford the full cost? We have a limited number of shares we sell at discount to families wishing to participate. Please complete the full CSA application and the 2012 Scholarship Application to be considered for a need-based scholarship of up to $250 of the $300 cost of the share.

Those who can afford to pay full cost have the option of donating any amount to help cover scholarships for others. A $300 donation would cover the full cost of a share. See the main CSA application for details.

More information on CSAs and local foods

If you still need more reasons to join a CSA, take a look at: Top Ten Reasons to Join a CSA

Read a great article in the Christian Science Monitor on CSAs

For an informative outline of the international status of organic agriculture, see this report (40 pages)

Learn about "food miles", how far your food travels to get to your plate, at the Leopold Center

A great list from the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society about Seven Ways to Change the World by Eating

How is it grown?

Our crops are grown at Sunset Community Farm by staff and Growing Farmers Program participants. We contract with these growers to bring fresh food to your table and provide them with a steady market as they start out. Everything is picked shortly before you receive it and at peak maturity so it will keep much longer than grocery store produce.

Our produce is grown using organic methods, such as cover crops, row covers, composting and simply keeping a watchful eye on everything. Part of becoming a CSA member means that you are taking on some of the risk of growing with us. We can't guarantee the availability of a particular item because sometimes nature gets the best of us. We do our best to plan ahead, and grow extra of some things just in case.

We encourage members to come out and visit the farm, so you can see how we grow all these vegetables. This is a great way to meet farmers-in-training too. Last year we had 6 participants growing alongside us at Sunset, and we'll have returnees plus a few newbies in 2012.

We also try to use as much recycled packaging as possible and run every aspect of the CSA in the most environmentally friendly manner. In the past, we have accepted all types of plastic clamshells, egg cartons, etc. However, with the market-style pick-up, this year we are only accepting your (small) berry clamshells. We encourage you to bring your re-used containers to the pick-up site, in order to pack your veggies.

Disclaimer and full disclosure

Farming is a risky business. In buying a CSA share from any farm you share some of that risk. Every year we are exposed to the risks of wind, excessive rain, drought, hail, heat, cold, insects, and sometime just plain bad luck. For example, an early August hail storm could be devastating. The risks in farming are real. If something bad happens, you will receive less produce in your share, or less of one particular crop.

Unless you cook and eat most of your evening meals at home, you will be overwhelmed with produce. If you eat only meat and potatoes, you will be overwhelmed with produce. In either case, if you will feel guilty throwing the vegetables away, splitting a share with a friend or neighbor can help with this. Good intentions alone will not keep you from finding rotting vegetables at the back of your refrigerator.

As a subscriber of a Community Supported Agriculture farm, you can help support local small farms, boost the local economy, as well as provide your family with healthful, fresh produce. This requires a commitment on your part to be more flexible and adventurous with your cooking and eating habits. The results will be delicious!

CSA Cookbook

The Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition has put out a great cookbook called From Asparagus to Zucchini that has lots of great recipes and is designed for CSA members. Copies are available at the CROPS office at the special price of $16.