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Subject: Market Farming

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  • From: "Hook Family" <guldann AT ix.netcom.com>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: CSA
  • Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 08:51:15 -0500


Some web pages for inspiration:
www.csa.org
http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/csa.html
You have already produced for famers market so you have already been
farmin'. Think about how much and what you grew. Think instead of packing
up for market you harvested and pleasingly displayed it on a table on farm.
On white or blackboards you write instructions for your membership to take
one of this and two of that etc. How's your table look whats there. Think
about planting some pick your own crops such as string beans, peas shell and
or edible pod, cherry tomatoes. These upick crops aren't so hard to grow
but are way time consuming to pick. However you reward their efforts with
libral amounts of those. You will have some members who are lazy and pick
few or none and some who are tickled with the bounty and pick enough to
freeze.

Are you close enough to a population so that they can pick up at farm? Its
less hassle that way but not impossible to deliver to some more populated
point. You have some animals right? People love that.

Right you mentioned meat and eggs. Both should be sold separately. CSA
membership fees I don't think are high enough to support those and veg.
Plus many vegetarians and vegans are drawn so CSA, rightly so and those
items would be wasted on them or they might feel resentful that they have
paid for a product they won't use. That said a CSA membership is a good
group to sell these things to separately a captured audience you might say
:).

I sell my eggs at 25 cents each and sold about 1 dozen ish a week which was
finne as I only have 6 hens.

Has CSA in general got press in your area? Tends to help signing up folks.
Your past famers market customers would be a good source of members.

I highly recommend your first year be small. Our first year was 10 which
was perfect. What I did wrong was underprice (lack of confidence) and I
wasn't structured enough ie no set pick up times. With 1-100 members there
must be rules/hours etc. Everyone will be happier :).

The first 10 were just word of mouth. As we approached our second year we
decided to advertise. We spent somewhere about $600+ for a full page ad in
this local free newspaper. The type that goes to every household in a few
towns. Their rates were cheaper and we liked how many houses it went to.
Along with the ad you got an interview article and pictures (some folks who
saw the ad did not see the article ha ha). We said to our selves so how
many of the hoards will we except (we expected no calls). We got about 50
calls yikes. We took about 33. Third year we were about 35, 4th about 43
and last year 35 on purpose. The 43 burned us out a bit only being the two
of us. Myself and dh. This upcoming year our 6th (can't believe it) I will
take up to 40. A local CSA to us closed I am begining to get inquiries.

We grow on about 2 acres of tilled soil. The farm total is 85 acres much
woods and much pasture for our beefers (own use so far). Not one year in
the past 5 has been the same weather wise and all the "books" on ag. as to
when to plant this and when to harvest that are only weak guidlines. This
past year peppers where great best ever, some weeks I had 4 bell peppers per
member per week, the year before literally I may have harvested 12.

We grow in excess of 30 "things" My chart says summer squash or winter
squash but I don't list that we grow 2 or 3 or 4 of each type. I grow herbs
and cut flowers which are pick your own. Some CSAs have flowers as an add
on ie the price of membership is x dollars more if you want flowers. For me
flowers are sort of happy insurance ie when peppers aren't doing well for
example the person still has picked beautiful flowers and they forget all
about no peppers :). Actually not everyone picks flowers but those that do
have told me they like them more than the veggies :).

I also write a weekly newsletter, I "chat" and I give recipes and rarely I
soap box open space or buy local (not often). Newsletter gets good
feedback. Not all CSAs do it, but purely for recipes I think it should be
done. Many of the veggies have not been eaten before or maybe only eaten
frozen from grocery store.

Well I have rambled and only scratched the surface. Feel free to ask any
questions on or off list. I have various info I could email you ie
newsletters, I might have my original advertisement, but I am not sure it
was backed up on the past various occasions computer has crashed.

Best of luck Beth in Massachusetts





  • CSA, Pete, Judi & Shania, 11/10/2002
    • <Possible follow-up(s)>
    • CSA, Hook Family, 11/11/2002
    • re: CSA, Pete, Judi & Shania, 11/12/2002
    • re: CSA, Lucy Goodman, 11/13/2002

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