Fox Creek Farm CSA

About our CSA

• What is Community Supported Agriculture?
• Why join Fox Creek Farm CSA?
• The 2010 Fox Creek Farm CSA program
• About Fox Creek Farm's CSA shares
• Distribution sites
• Member responsibilities
• How to sign up

What is Community Supported Agriculture?

 “Customers get whatever the farm successfully produces, which means that they assume some risk if it’s a bad growing year. But [the farmers] try to limit that risk by raising 40 different vegetables covering 100 varieties. (…) Shareholders sign up for the fresh, locally grown vegetables, but in the process they also get a little feel for the farmer’s life, the booms and busts that come along with one of the few things humans haven’t completely figured out how to control – nature. Customers pay for their shares of the harvest up front, and then pick up fresh produce once a week during the growing season”. This is what Jennifer Gish, CSA member and staff writer for the Times Union wrote about our CSA in the newspaper in July of 2007, and we think we couldn’t phrase it any better.

CSA membership is an excellent way to support local agriculture, reduce food miles, and to provide healthy, fresh and wholesome vegetables for you and your family or friends. It also connects you with the place your food is grown and with the people who grew it.

Community Supported Agriculture: eating fresh, locally grown, high quality produce made easy!

Why join Fox Creek Farm CSA?

Buy Local - Your support helps this small farm to stay afloat. Connect with the food you eat by meeting the farmers and exploring the farm.

Eat  Well - Pick up the freshest food for your family. 

Be Healthy - Eat more fresh vegetables. Share healthy eating habits with your children - expose them to a variety of local produce.

Protect the Environment - Support a farm where the farmers take care of their land by growing food in ways that take care of the soil. Reduce the number of miles your food travels from the farm to the plate.

The 2010 Fox Creek Farm CSA program

For 2010, we will distribute our fresh and wholesome produce for 21 weeks, starting June 8 (for the Tuesday distributions) or June 11 (for the Friday distributions), and ending on October 26 or October 29, respectively. Those 21 deliveries will take place on Tuesday and Friday late afternoon/early evening (generally, between 4:00 and 6:00 PM). As in 2009, we are limiting the size of our CSA to 200 members.

About Fox Creek Farm's CSA shares

The amount and variety of vegetables delivered will vary depending on the season and weather conditions, but on average will contain 7-8 different items. The delivery should be sufficient to meet the vegetable needs for an average size family of four (two adults/two children), or two vegetarian adults.

We do not offer half shares, but encourage splitting the shares with a friend, neighbor or co-worker in case our share size is more than you need.  

What kind of vegetables can I expect in my shares?

Eating fresh and locally grown food means also eating what is in season. For example, our share will start with cold weather crops like greens and peas in June, and end with long-season crops like winter squash, onions and potatoes in October. To give you an indication of the diversity and quantities in the shares, below are some examples from weekly CSA distributions of one growing season.

 

The June 20, 2008 share consisted of 2 quarts of mesclun (salad mix), 1 head of lettuce, 1 bunch of spinach, 1 bunch Tatsoi, ½ pint peas, 1 bunch radish, 1 head of broccoli, and 1 bunch of garlic scapes.  

The July 18, 2008 share had 1 bunch of beets with greens, 2 heads of lettuce, 10 carrots, 1 head of broccoli,  1 quart of green beans, 1 bell pepper, 1 head of fresh garlic, and the first greenhouse tomato.

The August 22, 2008 share: 1 quart early potatoes, 1 yellow onion, 1 head of lettuce, 5 ears of corn, 5 red slicing tomatoes, 3 heirloom tomatoes, 1 yellow bell pepper, 1 sweet pimento pepper, 1 head of garlic, 1 bunch of dill, 1 quart of basil, and 1 bunch of parsley.

The September 19, 2008 share: 2 quarts of mesclun, 1 bunch of scallions, 7 red slicing tomatoes and 2 heirloom tomatoes, 3 summer squash, 2 red onions, 1 head of garlic, a bunch of parsley, 1 bell pepper and 1 chocolate pepper.

The October 17, 2008 share: 1 quart yellow and 1 quart of blue potatoes, 3 onions, one butternut and one acorn winter squash, 3 greenhouse tomatoes, 2 quarts mesclun, 3 parsnips, 1 bunch kale and 1 head garlic.

What else can I expect from Fox Creek Farm's CSA?

The Fox Creek Farm CSA newsletter: our weekly publication with information about the farm, cooking suggestions for familiar and sometimes less known vegetables, and, when appropriate, a listing of some current agricultural related events in our community. We will also announce ‘expected harvests’ for the weeks to come, helping you plan your culinary adventures.

An invitation to come and visit the farm. Come out to the farm to pick a bouquet of flowers, enjoy the pick-your-own culinary herb and cherry tomato garden, take a walk through the fields and woods, feed our chickens, and enjoy the fantastic views. Our farm is open for visits, all season.

The annual Garlic Harvest Festival. Our garlic harvest festival has become a long standing tradition. Around the third week of July, the garlic is ready for harvest, and we invite all to come out to the farm, help with the harvest, and enjoy an outstanding potluck lunch!

Farm potlucks. We’ll again organize our start-of-season and end-of-season potlucks – great occasions to meet your farmers and other CSA members!

Distribution sites

Fox Creek Farm has established five distribution sites, which helps you to pick-up our freshly harvested vegetables close to your neighborhood. On Tuesday afternoon, our harvests will be available at the Honest Weight Food Co-op (Central Avenue, Albany), and at the Delmar Reformed Church (Delaware Ave., Delmar). On Friday, we are bringing our vegetables to Altamont (St. Lucy’s Parish, Grand Street), the University at Albany (uptown campus, Washington Avenue, Albany), and our new site in Schenectady. On Friday, we also have our vegetables ready for pick-up at the farm in Gallupville (Fox Creek Farm Road). As some of our sites fill up quickly, early sign-up will help you secure the site of your first preference.  

If none of our sites meet your need, we invite you to work with us starting a new CSA site. More  information can be found on this website (How to start a new CSA site)

How do our distribution sites work?

At the distribution site, you’ll find our fresh vegetables and a list of how much to take. We expect you to pack your own vegetables, so you’ll have to bring a box or some bags to recycle, or use the bags provided by the farm.

One of the farmers or our volunteer workshare members will be at the distribution site to help.

CSA Member responsibilities

Fox Creek Farm CSA does not have a work requirement – we don’t ask you to come out to the farm to help weeding or harvesting (but we invite you and your family and friends to our farm, our farm festivals and events to meet other CSA members and to enjoy our farm and U-pick garden with flowers, culinary herbs and cherry tomatoes).

As a member, you’ll be responsible for the weekly pick-up of your share within the time frame set for your pickup location. The exact pick-up times will depend on the sites, but are mostly between 4:00 and 6:00 PM.

If you cannot make the pick-up, you can always send a friend or neighbor to get your share. We cannot hold shares. Shares that have not been picked up by the closing time of the distribution site will be donated to local food pantries.  

How do I sign up for Fox Creek Farm’s CSA?

In order to participate in Fox Creek farm’s 2010 CSA program, please complete the membership form (download here) and mail it to us with the $ 100 down payment. Please indicate which distribution site you’d like to pick up your vegetables.  

Fox Creek Farm now offers a payment plan option for the CSA share. For more information follow this link.

Early full payment discount. We offer a $ 12.50 discount on all shares paid in full by March 1, 2010.

New CSA member referral program. We offer a CSA member referral discount! We encourage existing CSA members to tell their friends, neighbors and co-workers about our CSA program. For each new CSA member referred to our farm, we offer 1 week of free vegetables. The referred person must write you as a reference on their membership form and appropriate credit will be applied to your membership fee.

Workshares available. We are looking for CSA members that are willing to help us assist other members on distribution days. We offer a discount on the share price for this fun work, depending on the commitment you are willing to make. Please indicate your interest on the membership form so we can contact you to discuss this option.

More questions?

If you have any questions regarding the CSA and our farming operation, please do not hesitate to give us a call or drop us a line. 

(c) Fox Creek Farm CSA, 04/28/2010 , foxcreekfarmcsa@earthlink.net