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market-farming - Re: market-farming Next Season's CSA share prices

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  • From: "Dori Green" <dorigreen00 AT hotmail.com>
  • To: market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: market-farming Next Season's CSA share prices
  • Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 09:58:43 EST


I decide in January how many shares I can handle -- it depends on if my equipment is in good working order and if I have committed help I feel I can rely on to stick it out through the season, as well as on how much disposable cash I have to play with for seed and transplant orders.

I then spend the next few months selling shares as $100 debit cards, with individual item prices guaranteed to "meet or defeat" supermarket prices for the same things grown by conventional methods (I'm organic-not-certified).

If a family wants a $20 weekly basket for 20 weeks, they are strongly encouraged to buy four $100 debit cards rather than just to buy one and take it for granted that three more will be available in June or July -- I strongly intend to be sold out by the end of March even if it's with signed contracts to buy the remaining shares on time payments over the course of the season.

Our debit cards can be specialized or general-purpose, to be used for anything the farm produces -- vegetables, fruit, nuts, culinary herbs, medicinal herbs, flowers, natural craft supplies and finished craft items, firewood, workshops, and memberships in our goat and chicken and horse-and-pony co-ops.

Now that places like K-mart are selling debit cards, it's a concept that people understand. This was not true ten years ago when we started. And while it's a challenge to grow organically at supermarket prices it's completely do-able since I'm eliminating all of the middle-people and making that direct farmer-consumer connection. Which is actually my real agenda anyway, what a concept!

This year I'm also (finally) converting the farm officially to not-for-profit status as an educational organization and opening a couple of acres strictly for the local Food Bank (volunteers will provide all of the labor -- hey, it's an experiment). We're also adding horse and pony rescue through the non-confrontational means of outbidding meat dealers at New Holland or Unadilla auctions. Even if they're lame they can provide compost material, and even a lame horse can teach kids about care and love. Of course, we're going to try to pick out healthy animals -- but we recognize we might get burned. We're ready.

We're also developing as an intentional community with the addition next month of a family from Kansas (we're in Upstate NY). There will be room for one or two more people in the main house after they've settled in, and this summer's projects are going to include construction of summer apprentice and visitor cabins. And I'm farm-hunting in central New Jersey for a place to rent or buy so we have closer connections with Jersey and NYC population centers.

It's also become very clear to me that anybody involved in sustainable living concepts is closely connected to the international space program, and my farm is investigating and developing that connection. (Research that comes from the program has enhanced our lives, and there's a question of "why are we trying to be sustainable anyway -- maybe we have a destiny to fulfill"). Our five-year plan now includes purchase of a house and land near Titusville, Florida (Kennedy Space Center and Spaceport USA) so that members can snow-bunny and visit for launch parties.

And to think this all grew from a herb hobby that got completely out of hand.

Dori Green
Ash Grove Community Farm & Center for Sustainable Living
Corning, NY (with branches sprouting all over the place)

http://www.ic.org/agrove/index.htm

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  • Re: market-farming Next Season's CSA share prices, Dori Green, 11/16/2000

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