Benefits of the Farm Share
- Easy access to delicious local, seasonal, organic produce.
- Have flavorful, fresh and nutritious vegetables at your fingertips.
- Connect with a local family farm and support our care of the land and soil.
Over many years, we've had all sorts of wonderful farm share members, and there's a pattern to those who are the most satisfied by the experience and stick with us the longest. There are so many ways to get fresh vegetables in 2023, from meal kit delivery services to big box stores to farmers market stands to Community Supported Agriculture models. We want you to be happy with your choices! If you're on the fence, or you just want to know a little more about the experience, here are some questions to help clarify if the farm share is right for you.
1. DO YOU WANT TO KNOW YOUR FARMER?
Community-supported agriculture started as a way for farmers and eaters to share the risks of growing food, share the harvests, and create community around the farm. While we've adapted this model to fit 21st-century life, most of our members value their relationship with a small family farm very highly. In turn, we value their experience and their essential role in the farm's success!
You might be just as happy to go to the grocery store and occasionally shop at the farmers market, or get the convenience of a home delivery meal kit. But if you want to know what's going on on your local farm, be intimately connected with the seasons through the harvests and get the chance to visit and meet your farmers and fellow lovers of local food, a farm share is the way to go.
Community-supported agriculture started as a way for farmers and eaters to share the risks of growing food, share the harvests, and create community around the farm. While we've adapted this model to fit 21st-century life, most of our members value their relationship with a small family farm very highly. In turn, we value their experience and their essential role in the farm's success!
You might be just as happy to go to the grocery store and occasionally shop at the farmers market, or get the convenience of a home delivery meal kit. But if you want to know what's going on on your local farm, be intimately connected with the seasons through the harvests and get the chance to visit and meet your farmers and fellow lovers of local food, a farm share is the way to go.
2. WHAT MATTERS MORE TO YOU: Flavor and Freshness or Convenience?
The produce that comes from a farm to your kitchen via a farm share is almost always harvested just a day or two before you receive it. Members routinely comment on the freshness, good flavor, and shelf life of our produce. We choose varieties for their flavor rather than for durability. Generally, produce coming to you from even a good grocery store has been harvested several days to a week or more before you bring it home. If the convenience of choosing your favorite crops from a huge selection is very important to you, then a farm share might leave you disappointed. On the other hand, if you want to see your kids drawn magnetically to sweet carrots, snap peas, and even raw turnips, and experience just how good kale can taste, you might want to consider joining.
The produce that comes from a farm to your kitchen via a farm share is almost always harvested just a day or two before you receive it. Members routinely comment on the freshness, good flavor, and shelf life of our produce. We choose varieties for their flavor rather than for durability. Generally, produce coming to you from even a good grocery store has been harvested several days to a week or more before you bring it home. If the convenience of choosing your favorite crops from a huge selection is very important to you, then a farm share might leave you disappointed. On the other hand, if you want to see your kids drawn magnetically to sweet carrots, snap peas, and even raw turnips, and experience just how good kale can taste, you might want to consider joining.
3. IS EATING SEASONALLY IMPORTANT TO YOU?
If your weekly shopping list is the same in December and in July, and you want to keep it that way, a farm share might not be right for you. Grocery stores source from farms near and far, including in the Southern hemisphere, to guarantee a consistent variety of produce all year. We grow a wide variety of produce, limited by our climate, with occasional special guest crops from other farms nearby. We have the freshest lettuce in spring, the most flavorful tomatoes and basil in summer, and the sweetest squash and cooking greens in fall and winter. People who love farm shares the most tend to be flexible in their vegetable preferences and enjoy each item in its season.
If your weekly shopping list is the same in December and in July, and you want to keep it that way, a farm share might not be right for you. Grocery stores source from farms near and far, including in the Southern hemisphere, to guarantee a consistent variety of produce all year. We grow a wide variety of produce, limited by our climate, with occasional special guest crops from other farms nearby. We have the freshest lettuce in spring, the most flavorful tomatoes and basil in summer, and the sweetest squash and cooking greens in fall and winter. People who love farm shares the most tend to be flexible in their vegetable preferences and enjoy each item in its season.
4. DO YOU LIKE TO EXPERIMENT IN THE KITCHEN?
If you open the fridge in order to decide what to cook, love to try new vegetables and new ways of preparing them, and like to swap ingredients in and out of recipes, then you'll be excited by the variety and surprises of a farm share.
If you open the fridge in order to decide what to cook, love to try new vegetables and new ways of preparing them, and like to swap ingredients in and out of recipes, then you'll be excited by the variety and surprises of a farm share.
5. ARE YOU UP FOR A LEARNING EXPERIENCE?
Learning to cook from a rotating weekly palette of fresh produce can take time. It's not that the actual cooking takes so much time (We share a lot of favorite tips for making vegetables taste delicious quickly), but that it requires planning, and sometimes you won't get it right. A bunch of collard greens here or an extra squishy tomato there might end up in the compost bin, and that's ok. We work hard to make sure you have the tools you need to make the most of our produce. Also, consider that joining a farm share actually helps farmers reduce food waste overall by growing to their members' needs.
Learning to cook from a rotating weekly palette of fresh produce can take time. It's not that the actual cooking takes so much time (We share a lot of favorite tips for making vegetables taste delicious quickly), but that it requires planning, and sometimes you won't get it right. A bunch of collard greens here or an extra squishy tomato there might end up in the compost bin, and that's ok. We work hard to make sure you have the tools you need to make the most of our produce. Also, consider that joining a farm share actually helps farmers reduce food waste overall by growing to their members' needs.