Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a direct partnership between farmers and consumers, where shares in the season’s harvest are purchased in advance. Each CSA farm has its own particular set-up. Here’s how the Lakefield Organics CSA plan works…

A simple alternative food system: First, you purchase a share for the season, which runs from mid-June to mid-October. Then, once a week, you receive a plentiful and varied selection of fresh produce—your weekly harvest share. It is a direct and straightforward relationship, with no middlemen, only your grower and you!

Organic quality: Your vegetables are hand-grown in garden beds with a minimum of tillage. We use no synthetic chemicals and no genetically modified organisms. All seed is untreated, and we grow our own seedlings for transplants (e.g. tomatoes, peppers). We fertilize with green manure and compost made on-farm. We even maintain detailed production records (it’s required for certification). Above all, we enjoy farming the “old fashioned” way, feet on the ground, close to the earth!!

Healthy selection: A balanced veggie menu from week to week is always the goal. We grow over 30 different crops, with several varieties of each. Popular basics include tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, peas and beans (see our full crop list). We also grow unusual and specialty items, like heirloom tomatoes, tomatillos, and sweet potato, as well as fresh herbs, including rosemary and basil, and cut flowers.

Consistent supply: In five years of CSA, we’ve never had a short share! We select early, mid- and late-maturing varieties and we plant often to ensure good quantity, quality and selection throughout the season. We also grow different varieties of each crop to anticipate varying weather conditions (and because it’s lots more fun than growing all one thing!).

Fair price: A Harvest Share for 2009 is $30 a week for the 18-week season ($540 total). This is an excellent value for absolutely fresh, high-quality local food. In fact, calculated share by share, it is often less than the cost of supermarket organics. You can also work for one or two days and subtract that from your share price (email for info!). You’ll receive an average of 8-12 items per share, with less early in the season, and much larger shares from July to October. (This is the nature of seasonal garden eating: field-grown veggies harvested at their natural timing!) A share feeds 2-4 people, depending on your veg-eating habits.

Convenient pick-up: You can pick up weekly from the farm. This is the recommended approach, it keeps you in touch and really adds to your share satisfaction. We also encourage pick-up-pooling, where several members can take turns picking up for their group. You can also pick up on Saturday mornings at Peterborough Farmers’ Market. We may have additional pick-up locations, to be determined in the spring based on membership. Home delivery will also be available to certain locations, for an additional $5/week.