I’m writing this post because when I had this idea a couple years ago, there was no information to be found. There are many posts on how to start a traditional CSA, but none where the members come pick their own produce. I’m here to fix that!
You might ask why I want the members to pick their own stuff. I mean, how can you trust them to not pick too much? How do you know when they’re coming? How, how, how?
Let me give you a bit of a back story. A few years ago I tried starting a traditional CSA with my garden. At the time I had a large garden and I grew way more produce than we, as a family of four, could use and I had no time to preserve anything. I thought it would be nice to offer cheap shares to my friends and family so they would have access to fresh, organically-grown foods.
Everything went pretty well until mid-August when Hurricane Irene rolled in and literally destroyed the garden in a few hours. I ended up returning everyone’s pro-rated payments for the rest of the season. I just didn’t feel right about keeping it – although I know that they assume the same risk as me, the “farmer.”
Fast forward to 2017 and I was still growing more produce than I could use. I was working more which meant that I wasn’t even home to cook with it much. I gave away a lot and I put a big patch of the garden back to grass. But, I wasn’t ready to give up gardening completely.
The feel of the cool dirt in my hands in the Spring feeds something in my soul that tending houseplants doesn’t. A lot of times I grow produce just because it’s beautiful, but I also grow it because I love the process. I love the planting, the tending and the eating. I just don’t love the harvesting and processing.
Which brings me to my idea of starting a CSA where I don’t have to pick anything for anyone but myself. The members would each pick their own produce weekly. They wouldn’t be obligated to pick anything but they would have a general weekly limit.
Over the last two years I’ve proven that this model will actually work! I accepted 6 members for the 2017 season and 8 members for the 2018 season. I’m planning something similar for 2019, but I’ll explain more about that later. Let’s get to some specifics for you.
Let me go over the WHY for a Pick-Your-Own CSA first.
1) I love to garden but can’t use all the produce myself.
2) I love providing chemical-free produce for my friends, family and neighbors.
3) It provides an economical alternative to grocery stores and farmer’s markets while still supporting your local economy.
4) The payments help me continue to play in the dirt while providing a quality product. The payments don’t cover all the cost but they do offset it to a great extent.
5) I get to see my friends and family weekly – so, community is big part of this program.
6) I love seeing children learning about new produce and helping to harvest. It brings them closer to nature and their food supply.
I’ll include a pdf of my 2018 CSA Membership Packet later in this post. As a designer, it’s fun to put it together each year. I created a packet for the members that laid out the varieties of produce that I intended to grow and allowed them to give input on a few varieties that they would like to have. It included a contract between me (the farmer) and them (the member) informing them of what they’re entitled to and how assuming risk works.
I thought it’d be helpful for anyone who is considering starting a CSA this year to some observations I’ve made the last couple years while hosting a Pick-Your-Own CSA. They might help you in deciding how to run your own. I’d love to hear if you do try it!
My observations:
• Not everyone will pick up every week. There are lots of vacations during the summer.
• Not everyone will know what the plants are or how to pick them. Makes sure you love educating people on those types of things and you mark things clearly in the garden. I give everyone a tour the first couple weeks so they can become familiar with the layout and varieties.
• There will be a few people that never come at all or only come once or twice. This is why I sell and extra share or two.
• In hindsight, because I have pick-ups on the weekends, the middle of the week garden often has produce that needs to be used. You could use this for yourself, or split up your pick-up times like I’m planning to do for 2019.
• It’s good to give suggestions on how members can use their produce. Yes, they can look on pinterest for recipes, but if you know that the scallions are going to be ready next week, help them out by giving them a few ways to use them. This could be done through a facebook page, by e-mail or on a recipe card available during their pick-up times.
• Private facebook groups are great for communicating with the members all at once. Remember, not everyone uses facebook every day. I let the members know that the weekly pick-up information is posted on there and it’s up to them to check it.
• I don’t remind people to pick up their produce. I ask that they let me know if they won’t be coming but if produce is not picked up it gets donated, used or given to friends and family.
• Even if you’re family, I’m not going to pick your produce for you. There’s a reason this is a Pick-Your-Own CSA.
• For 2018, I developed a system using small colored flags I got at Lowe’s. When the produce was almost ready, I would place a yellow flag near it. The members then knew that they could check to see if it was ready or harvest a small amount of it if it was. When the produce was ready to harvest, it got a red flag. That meant they could take an amount that would typically equal the amount sold in stores for one unit. For instance, if it was carrots, they could take 8-10 carrots, the amount in a small bag at the store. If it was lettuce, they could take what would equal the amount in a small clamshell container at the store.
• I typically start the season giving a limit on what they can take in order for everyone to get a feel for sharing. As the season progresses into August, which is a glutton, I stop giving limits and tell them to be considerate. It’s worked really well so far. If anything, people don’t take enough in August!
• People will tell you they want a share then back out. For 2019, I’m making the sign-up and payment deadline the same date but later in the year. It will be a hard deadline. No stringing me along this year. 😉
Those are some of my thoughts and things I’ve learned over the last two seasons. I’m making some changes for 2019, some are discussed above. Others include selling only 6 shares but also offering a weekly pick up for a set amount, without having to be a member of the CSA. I plan on having a group on facebook for those who would like to purchase produce outright. I would offer a basket of my choice of produce for, say, $12. They would pick up on a particular day of the week. It’s all an experiment, so we’ll see how that goes.
Here’s the CSA packet I send to prospective members at the beginning of the year. It allows them a few months to think about (and save up for) becoming a member. Feel free to set up something similar!
Please, if you have any particular questions, don’t hesitate to ask! I’m happy to help you get started on providing your community with chemical-free produce.