CSA
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May 16th Update:
We only have a couple spaces left in the 2012 CSA. Please e-mail us at “farmers@pitchforkandcrow.com” to confirm that there is still space open before signing up.
Thanks!
Carri & Jeff
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What is Community Supported Agriculture?
CSA’s are supported by community members who pre-pay for a weekly share of the farm harvest. This pre-payment helps provide stable financing for farming operations, allowing farmers to focus on thorough planning and quality care of the soil and crops. A CSA provides members the knowledge of where and how their food is grown. Focused on the local community, a CSA lessens travel time between harvest and cooking, increasing nutritional content and lessening environmental impacts of transportation. CSAs help build local economies and protect valuable farm land from urbanization and poor management.
2012 Pitchfork & Crow CSA
- 28 weeks of local, seasonal, organic vegetables (May 22nd thru Nov. 27th)
- Between $22 – $26 worth of vegetables each week
- A variety of vegetables, including many heirloom varieties
- Convenient pick-up near downtown Salem on the edge of the Willamette University campus
CSA Details
Vegetables & Share Size
Our goal is to provide a diverse mix of seasonal vegetables from week-to-week, including many familiar vegetables and some less familiar varieties. Lettuce or salad mix will generally be included the share each week. Favorites like carrots, broccoli, and tomatoes will make many multiple appearances in the share and we’ll round out the variety by including less familiar vegetables like kohlrabi, fennel, and celeriac a few times throughout the season. We also try to include fruit when available and in season. We’re excited to share fruit from the farm including several varieties of pears and apples and a few berry varieties in this upcoming year.
Our share size should easily feed a family of four or two vegetable-loving adults. You can check out photos of shares from this past year on our flickr site for an idea of share contents and size. A list of the vegetables we are planning to grow this next year can be found here.
Duration
The CSA season will run 28 weeks, from May 22nd thru November 27th.
Payment
Membership is $620. There are two payment options:
- Single-payment option: full $620 due at sign-up
- Two-payment option: pay $310 at sign-up and $310 by August 1st
Once memberships are confirmed, members will be mailed an invoice.
Pick-up
CSA pick-up will be Tuesday evenings, 4:30pm – 6:30pm
The CSA pick-up location will be on the edge of the Willamette University campus on the corner of Church St. and Ferry St., in the parking lot behind the Willamette Sustainable Communities building and the United Methodist Church.
Location: 195 Church Street (corner of Church & Ferry)
(click map for larger map)
The CSA pick-up will be market-style, enabling you to choose your vegetables from the quantities listed. Please bring your own bags for bringing home your vegetables.
Anything you don’t want from your share can be left for donation to a local charity. If you can’t make it to a pick-up, you may offer your share to a friend or neighbor and tell them to check in with us upon arrival.
Newsletters
In addition to fresh, seasonal vegetables each week, we’ll also have a newsletter updating members on what’s in the share, what’s happening on the farm, and recipe suggestions. To avoid wasting paper, the newsletter will be e-mailed directly to members and will be available on the Pitchfork & Crow website.
Other Information
Farm Visits
We are planning three opportunities during the season for members to visit the farm. We believe farm visits are a valuable opportunity for you to connect your veggies to a specific place and see how they’re grown. We’ve also found these open houses to be fun social events where we can get to know members better and members can interact with each other. Specific dates will be announced after the beginning of the season.
How We Grow
As of mid-May 2010 our growing operation and field were officially certified organic by Oregon Tilth. We never use synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides in our growing practices. Also, prior to leasing this new property we tested for persistent pesticides, such as DDT and Dieldrin, and the tests came back clean.
We are enjoying actively managing the 15 acres we’re leasing and excited to be planning for our 2nd season on this ground. Having now farmed for a full season at this location, we’ve learned a lot about the local soil types, weather, and fertility. We’re currently planning for future cover cropping options and for rotating vegetable families through the fields, so as to avoid allowing pests to build up in a single location. We’ll also continue to add fertility to the soil by working in composted manure and other organic amendments.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
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Pitchfork & Crow | serving Salem, Ore | farmers@pitchforkandcrow.com | (503) 999-7920 |
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