What is CSA?
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is so much more than a weekly box of beautiful vegetables. It's a way for you to directly support a local farmer in your area. So much of the food people eat in this country is grown several states away or in another country. That food makes a journey of thousands of miles before to enters your kitchen. CSA not only allows you to eat closer to home, it also means you are helping a small farm to thrive in your region.
Like many other farms CSA, at Racing Heart we offer 'shares' of the upcoming season's harvest in the spring- we then become your farmer for the season! Those funds are used to buy the seeds, plants, and supplies that we need to grow diverse and healthy plants. Come harvest time your investment is returned in 16 deliveries of fresh, local, seasonal vegetables!
Like many other farms CSA, at Racing Heart we offer 'shares' of the upcoming season's harvest in the spring- we then become your farmer for the season! Those funds are used to buy the seeds, plants, and supplies that we need to grow diverse and healthy plants. Come harvest time your investment is returned in 16 deliveries of fresh, local, seasonal vegetables!
What makes this CSA special?
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Farming for our planet: We are a no-till farm. Tilling releases carbon into the atmosphere and makes modern day farming unsustainable. Instead, we use climate appropriate technology to prepare our fields. That means we are sequestering carbon into our soil while we grow. We believe this practice is one of many that will slow or even help reverse climate change. This minimal soil disturbance approach to farming also keeps soil in place, a key factor in adapting to larger rain storms which occur as a result of the climate crisis we face.
While our vegetables run on solar power naturally (photosynthesis), we though the rest of the farm should join in, and so in 2019 we installed a solar array at the farm witch covers all of our electric use. Growing healthy vegetables: Did you know that most vegetables don't have as much of the vitamins and minerals that they did 50 years ago? We are actively working to remineralize our soil, which means that more of these nutrients are making their way to our CSA members' tables. Cultivating a relationship: We send a weekly email reminder the day before CSA pickup that keeps you updated about your farm. We include a list of what will be in the box, notes from the field, and pictures of what's happening on the farm. |
We love supporting our CSA because we believe in the power of a local and just food system!" |
But is it right for me?
CSA isn't for everyone. If you are considering joining, here are some questions to consider, before you sign up:
Is having a relationship with your farmer important to you? Like any relationship, you have to expect some give and take. We do the best we can to deliver bountiful, beautiful boxes each week, but we are also in a relationship with Mother Nature, and she's the boss. Sometimes there are losses. We will try to fill the space with something else, but if you've been looking forward to sweet peppers all summer, and they hardly make an appearance (as in 2020), that's just part of the arrangement. But the flip side is, when we have it, you see it... and we aren't shy about packing those boxes with a good balance of the stuff we know our members love; heirloom tomatoes, broccoli, melon, carrots! We also do our best to keep you informed about farm life, and really enjoy getting feedback from you. With the CSA model, your farmers are only an email or phone call away.
Is having a relationship with your farmer important to you? Like any relationship, you have to expect some give and take. We do the best we can to deliver bountiful, beautiful boxes each week, but we are also in a relationship with Mother Nature, and she's the boss. Sometimes there are losses. We will try to fill the space with something else, but if you've been looking forward to sweet peppers all summer, and they hardly make an appearance (as in 2020), that's just part of the arrangement. But the flip side is, when we have it, you see it... and we aren't shy about packing those boxes with a good balance of the stuff we know our members love; heirloom tomatoes, broccoli, melon, carrots! We also do our best to keep you informed about farm life, and really enjoy getting feedback from you. With the CSA model, your farmers are only an email or phone call away.
Do you value having the freshest and best tasting food? Our vegetables are delivered within a day of harvest (with some exceptions for storage crops, of course). That means they are the freshest thing around unless you have your own garden. That also means our vegetables are the best tasting option, and our CSA members value that. Is signing up for a CSA going to get you a bargain? Not compared to Cub or Costco- but it certainly will if you value taste and freshness! We also try to provide opportunities for our members to 'harvest' the abundance of in-season foods by offering bonus veggies for freezing as we have extra available.
Participating in this CSA pushed me to try new vegetables I usually shy away from at a farmers market. I discovered a new-found love of bok choy, fennel, and radishes!" |
Do you like to experiment in the kitchen? Try new foods? We grow over 50 different kinds of vegetables (and often several varieties of each kind). Can you name 50 different vegetables (you can answer "no" and still join the CSA)? Not many people can. This is part of what we are working to change- and if that sounds like a fun challenge, you will likely enjoy CSA! Eating a wide variety of vegetables is good for you AND good for the planet, and you will have the most success if you are willing to try new things... And maybe try them a few times in different ways. Of course we grow all the standards, but 7-14 different items over 16 weeks of delivery begs for diversity! Don't worry, if there is something in your box that we don't expect you will recognize or we are giving for the first time, we will give you some tips and maybe a recipe or two. It is helpful to have some flexibility in your weekly meal plans (another reason you get a list of what's in the box in advance... to help you shop for grocery items when or before you pick up).
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Will you dedicate part of your week to cooking and eating vegetables? I know, we all want to want to eat vegetables (yes, even farmers are tempted to have frozen pizza for dinner sometimes). Signing up for a CSA is a commitment to do something with a box of veggies every week. We don't take this commitment lightly- we know it's a big one for lots of our members- so here are a few things we do to make it easier:
- We offer Small and Large shares, so that you can choose a size that fits your household.
- We try to imagine what vegetables might go together well, and pair things in the box accordingly (when seasonally appropriate, of course).
- We include membership to the recipe website https://www.cookwithwhatyouhave.com/ so that you can find ideas and recipes that work for what's in the box.
- Share a share with a friend or neighbor. You can pick up together and divide the contents of each box, or you can alternate weeks (and coordinate vacations).
- Invest in a few good cookbooks- we love The Art of Simple Food II, by Alice Waters, Farm-Fresh and Fast, from the FairShare CSA Coalition and From Asparagus to Zucchini, compiled by the Madison Area CSA Coalition.
- Learn to know what you like (and what you don't). If you don't like cilantro, I bet you know someone who does! Pass along any items that you know you won't use to friends or neighbors right away- we call it a 'share' for a reason!
- Pick a day of the week (perhaps Tuesday evening) and chop up all the veggies left in your fridge, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 400 degrees. Almost any vegetable works for this (with some salad-y exceptions), and they are good that night, and leftover as a breakfast hash, or in lunch the next day.