Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, consists of a community of individuals who choose to invest in a farm and, in return, receive a share of the food that farm produces over the course of the season. CSA members pay for their season’s vegetables in the spring, which provides farmers with capital in the spring when the costs are greatest and revenue is lowest. The heart of the CSA model is the reciprocal relationship it creates between the customers, the food, the land, and those who grow it.
Our 2024 18-week CSA will run from June 19th through October 23rd with one break week (no shares on Wednesday 8/14!). Pickups are each Wednesday at the Root Seller Marketplace in Lancaster (12pm-5pm) and at Bent Fork Farm in Bethlehem (4pm-7pm).
Our farm share allows members to buy a share at the beginning of the year and receive a weekly share of produce during our the growing season . Our members go home with a basket full of the best the season has to offer and enjoy a healthy discount compared to our farmers market prices. The produce in each week’s pickup will include a variety of in-season grocery staples such as lettuce, carrots, beans, peas, cucumbers and tomatoes, as well as some more “adventurous” vegetables, like kohlrabi, fennel, radicchio or rapini. We aim to design shares that can be easily integrated into your family’s weekly menu of fresh, creative recipes.
- Eat great. You and your family will get weekly infusions of the freshest, most ethically grown produce and have delicious veggies on hand for every meal. You’ll enjoy the vegetables you know and love and experiment with a few you don’t. We’ll include some amazing but simple recipes for inspiration.
- Save money. The CSA model is a great way to feed your family local, organically grown produce at a discounted rate.
- Stock up. Our CSA members will be the first to know about deals on bulk or seconds produce for canning. Many of our past CSA families have frozen or canned “extras” and enjoyed our produce for months after their weekly pickups were over.
- Support your local economy. Joining our CSA means 100% of your weekly produce dollars are kept in our community.
- Build community. Nothing brings people together like great food!
When and where? 2024 CSA pickups begin June 18th and continue through October 22nd. This year we will be taking a break the week of 8/13 so our family can go camping and your family can clean out the fridge. There will be no shares on 8/13!
We have two pickup locations:
- at our farm, located at 1743 Maple Street Bethlehem, NH 03574, every Wednesday from 4-7pm.
- at the Root Seller Market, located on Main St. in Lancaster, next to the Polish Princess, from 12pm-5pm.
How does it work?
- for farm pickup: just pull in the driveway next to our house and follow the CSA signs to the barn. There will be a veggie display that looks similar to a market stand and a list with all the veggies included in that week’s share. Just mark your name off the sign in sheet, follow the list and select your veggies from the stand! Some week’s we’ll have a preset list of the 8-10 veggies you’ll bring home (especially early in the summer), and some weeks there will be choices on the list (ie choose carrots or beets, salad or spinach). Don’t forget to bring your market bags or baskets!
- for Taproot Pickup: Similarly to the farm pickup, we’ll have a market style setup in front of the store. Just tell the staff member your name, and follow the list to select your veggies from the stand. There may be some weekly variations between the choices available at Taproot and the farm. Please remember to bring your own bags or baskets!
What’s in a share? When you come to pick up, there will be a list of the items/choices available for that week’s share, usually 8-10 different items. We try to include a mix of root veggies (like carrots, beets, radishes and potatoes), leafy greens (like baby salad greens, lettuce heads, kale and pac choi) and fruit vegetables (like cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini and winter squash) in each week’s options. Which produce items are available in each week’s share will depend entirely on what’s in season, which is part of the joy of being part of a CSA! Early season shares will star sweet and tender greens, sugar snap peas and strawberries, mid season shares will be loaded with heirloom tomatoes, summer squash and green beans and late season shares will include fall favorites like winter squash, leeks and brussel sprouts. We’re also excited to be including occasional produce from our partner farms to provide you with some of things we dont grow and to support other north country farms we love.
Below are some examples of what is in a regular share from last year’s share:
| Week 5 (mid July) | Week 10 ( mid August) | Week 14 (late September) |
| 1 pint sugar snap peas | choose: red or sweet onions | choose: broccoli or cauliflower |
| choose: bunch hakurei turnips or bok choi | 1 lb green beans | choose: 2 heads fennel or 1 red cabbage |
| choose: zucchini or summer squash | choose: pint shishito peppers or 2 bell peppers | choose: carrots or hakurei turnips |
| choose: head green oakleaf lettuce or iceberg lettuce | 1 cucumber | choose: red or white potatoes (from Sparrow Arc Farm) |
| 1 head bunch broccolini | choose: bunch beets or radish | choose: leeks or storage onions |
| choose: bunch carrots or beets | 1 1/2 lbs heirloom tomatoes | choose: romaine or butterhead lettuce |
| choose: 1 bunch scallions or 1 green garlic | 5 ears sweet corn (from Gingue Farm) | Choose: slicing tomatoes or cherry tomatoes |
| 1 slicing cucumber | 1 bunch cilantro or dill | 1 stalk Brussels sprouts |
| 1 bunch basil | choose: lettuce mix or salad mix | choose: butternut squash or 2 delicata |
How big is the weekly veggie share? How many people will it feed?
Our Regular Share is generally a good size for two people who enjoy hearty servings of seasonal produce, or a small family that uses vegetables as side dishes or incorporates them into meat/grain based meals. Your weekly share ends up being $30 or more worth of vegetables purchased at our regular market prices.
Our large share is best for a couple that uses a considerable amount of produce (any may use extra vegetables for juicing or freezing) or a family that needs more produce for additional servings at meals. For large shares, you’ll follow the veggie list at pickup and pick an additional 4 or 5 items from whats available on the stand.
How much? Our vegetable CSA is priced on a sliding scale with the goal of making our produce more available to everyone in our community, regardless of income.
For each size share there are three price options: our suggested member rate (our usual price that supports us as farmers and covers the farm’s costs), our reduced rate ($100 off our regular rate), and our pay it forward rate (our regular price, plus a little extra to help fund more reduced rate shares). Reduced rate shares are available completely on the honor system.
FOR SNAP RECIPIENTS and others who would like to be part of the CSA but are unable to afford a share: There have been significant changes to the Farm Share Program hosted by the NH Food Bank that has previously allowed us to offer low/no cost share to SNAP recipents. We are currently seeking other avenues of funding so we can continue to offer subsidized shares to folks who need them. Subscribe to our email list below for updates.
What if I can’t pick up my share this week? If you have plans to be out of town, let us know by Monday evening of the week you’ll be missing, and we can give you a week’s worth of farm credit to use at our farm stand or market stand when you get back. If you forget to pick up or can’t make it during our regular hours, make sure you get in touch with us. Because of space and time constraints, unclaimed shares at Taproot will be donated to gleaning at the end of pickup. Forgotten shares at the farm will be boxed and held through Thursday; just get in touch with Bridget to arrange a pickup time.
If there are any questions you have that are unanswered there, feel free to Contact Us.