Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program
For New Members
Welcome, and thank you for taking the time to consider a CSA Membership with Sweetwater Farm! According to Local Harvest, hundreds of thousands of people all over the country are signing up for a CSA. Utterly fantastic idea though it is, community supported agriculture is not for everyone. Deciding whether or not CSA is for you requires a healthy dose of self knowledge, according to Local Harvest. It also requires answers to some commonly asked questions about how a CSA works, and how Sweetwater works in particular. For answers to some of those questions, please click on the links below. If you still have questions, we invite you to come to the farm for a visit, or contact us with your questions. The farm is open to the public every Sunday from 12:00-4:00 (from November to May), for our Sunday Farmer’s Market with live music, fresh produce, green vendors, and farmers and friends to answer your questions.
For Renewing Members
This is the time. According to Local Harvest (www.localharvest.org), hundreds of thousands of people all over the country are signing up for a CSA. For our current and loyal members, this is your time too. Sweetwater Organic Community Farm proudly announces the opening of our 2010-2011 CSA Membership Renewal period. From now until May 31, 2010 all CSA Members may sign up for next season and receive Renewal Member pricing.
To qualify for the Renewal pricing, you MUST:
1. Be a current 2009-2010 CSA Member
2. Turn in a completed Renewal Application and Payment in full by May 31, 2010.
Don't take any chances - our Memberships will become available to the public on April 1st! Sign up now to reserve your space and take advantage of a lower rate.
What's a CSA?
Community Supported Agriculture: Origin and Concept
The Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model was introduced to the United States in 1985 to promote fresh, locally grown food and foster social and ecological responsibility. CSAs establish a direct partnership between farmers and consumers, allowing members to share the risks and rewards of farming while enjoying a sense of responsibility for appropriate land stewardship. Families and individuals become CSA members by paying a seasonal fee, which entitles them to a share of the weekly harvest.
Benefits of Membership
Membership in our CSA affords access to the freshest possible organic produce, while supporting local, sustainable, healthy agriculture. Because we're an educational farm, your membership supports hands-on ecological education through our volunteer program, field trip program and workshops. We're also a community farm, so feel free to volunteer and check out our operations, meet our farmers and see how your food is grown!
Produce Share
Each week's share will be a little different in variety and quantity, depending on what's growing and how much is actually harvested from the fields each week. We aim to have 10-15 different items in each share including salad greens, cooking greens, root crops, herbs, vegetables and occasionally fruit. Typically, a share will fill 2-4 grocery bags full.
Community Service
As a way to promote community involvement, we request 4 hours of volunteer work from each membership group over the course of the entire season. This volunteer commitment can be fulfilled in any number of ways: doing farm work in our fields, helping to set up for fundraisers, collecting silent auction donations, spreading the word on Facebook, etc. From October through May, popular volunteer work times are Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, especially in the mornings when we’re harvesting. Volunteer Opportunities are highlighted in our monthly newsletter (sign up by going to our website), or contact us to see how our needs and your talents might align.
Produce Share Pick-ups
How do I pick up my veggies?
Pick-up Times and Locations
For your convenience, we are offering two pick-up locations this season:
Tampa – Sweetwater Farm (main barn)
· Sundays 12-4pm
· Thursdays 12-6pm
St Petersburg – St Pete Saturday Morning Market (Sweetwater booth)
· Saturdays 9:00am-2:00pm
If you are picking up in Tampa, please pick a day for your usual pickup (Sunday or Thursday) so we can harvest accordingly. You won't be required to stick to that day every week, but the more regular you can be, the better we can anticipate the harvest to maximize your share.
If you plan to pick up your share in St. Petersburg, we will add you to the St. Pete pick-up list. Once you are on the St Pete pick-up list, you should not pick up any shares in Tampa. (Due to harvest and delivery schedules, members are not allowed to pick up at both locations.)
Full-Share Pickups
If you purchased a Sprout Membership, you will pick up fresh produce every week. If you are unable to make a pick-up on your usual day, consider asking a neighbor to pick up for you!
Half-Share Pickups
If you have a Half-Sprout Membership, your pickups will be every other week as follows (this applies to both the Tampa and St Pete pick-up locations):
· Week A: Last Names A-K
· Week B: Last Names L-Z
So we're all on the same page, each pick-up will be labeled 'Week A' or 'Week B' in our pick-up calendar.
Pickup Logistics: When you come for your pickups…
- Sign-in: Enter your initials on the pick-up sheet next to your name.
- Bags: Use your own bags from home, grab one from our stash, or bring clean, reusable grocery bags to contribute to the community stash in the barn.
- Pickups: The CSA chalkboards tell you how much of each item to pick up from each bin. TAKE ONLY FROM THE TOP!! NO PICKING through the bins, as this will damage the produce quality for everyone else. Produce quality is the same throughout the bins.
- Swap Bin: Don't need some of the items in your share? Leave it in the Swap Bin on the front table. In exchange, you can take something from the bin that another member didn't need.