CSA

Click Here to Join our CSA!  

Already have a seasonal CSA? See the Note on our “Monthly Plan” or Donate a Share (see bellow)

In your weekly CSA share you can expect different vegetables throughout the season including; salad greens, cooking greens, tomatoes, squash, beans, dry beans, fresh herbs, dry herbs, and more!

What is a CSA?

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is the concept that the relationship between farmer and farming community is reciprocal- the community supports the farmer(s) monetarily- often this upfront cost covers the initial costs of planting etc- and in turn the farmer provides the community with food. This means buying a “farm share,” i.e the community becomes, in a sense, shareholders in the farm through their first investment, and then benefit from the “profits” of the harvest- the food! These “farm shares” are distributed differently depending on the farm, it usually manifests as a weekly disbursement of produce over a set period of time (a season). You may know a friend with a farm share, or “veggie box” who gets a weekly delivery of vegetables, or goes and picks out/ picks-up a weekly share. CSA’s are not always vegetables (although ours is), sometimes they are for meat, dairy, or other farm goods. To sign-up for the Growing WILDhearted CSA click the sign-up button above.

IMPORTANT NOTE: By signing up for the CSA you are agreeing to support the farmer, and assume the risks of the farmer, such as drought, pests, etc. With the assurance that the farmer will do the best they can to provide the most plentiful, high-quality crop possible. Note: you are not signing up for a specified amount of produce. The amount and type of produce may vary throughout the season, but that’s part of the fun! I heard one friend describe their weekly CSA as “a Christmas present every week!”

Our Sliding Scale Model

The Bean Patch is, as stated in other locations on our website, an experiment. One of the experimental variables is economic. We do not wish for monetary resources to inhibit people from accessing good healthy food. So we offer our CSA on a sliding scale. The belief is that those who have the ability will pay a little more, which will cover the cost of those on the other end of the sliding scale, and in the end it all evens out so that everyone has essentially paid the suggested “median price.” (See payment scale below)

Monthly Plan:

We would like to recognize that not everyone (ourselves included) has expendable income in such a way that they can afford large (or small) upfront costs. Hence we also have a month option when signing up for the CSA, so you can choose “full season” or “monthly.” If you click “full season” you will be signed up for every week, and will be asked to pay the cost upfront. If you choose “monthly” you will be asked which months you’d like to sign up for, and you will receive your weekly shares on a month to month basis after you’ve paid (whatever amount on the sliding scale you pay) for that month. For example: let’s say I select only Aug and Sept, I will send a check to the Bean Patch at the end of July/beginning of August for one month and after it’s received I’ll get my weekly share each week in August. I will repeat this again at the end of August/beginning of September, and get my September shares.

NOTE: The monthly plan also allows those already registered and loyal to another CSA to fill the gap between when your farm of choice provides their CSA. Ex: if you get a regular Fall CSA that starts in September, you can sign up only for August. Or you get a Summer and a Winter CSA so you can sign up for October and November.

Donate a Share:

We believe that everyone deserves access to fresh, healthy food, and that farmers deserve to get paid for their labor. For those of you that are not interested in a CSA share, or already have a share from a local farm that you are committed to, but would like to support food access for all and The Bean Patch, you can donate a farm share. We have the capacity to donate 5 more shares. For every $150 raised we will donate 1 share’s worth of food each week to a local food service organization. You can also donate a share to a specific individual. We accept full share donations of $150 or smaller donations of $5, $10, $25, etc to contribute to the cost of a share. To donate send us an e-mail with title line “Donate a Share” to wildhearts@thebeanpatch.org.

*Payment Scale:

Full Season= Aug-Nov

Food For All: Full Season: $60 Monthly: $15
Student Life: Full Season: $180 Monthly: $45
The Middle Way: Full Season: $250 Monthly: $62.50
Feeling Generous: Full Season: $325 Monthly: $81.25

 

Note about payment methods:

We happily accept cash! If you plan on paying in cash please select the cash option, and we will accept your payment upon first CSA delivery. Checks can be made out and maild to Alice Grendon and/or Dunan Herman-Parks at 91 Keets Rd, Deerfield MA, 01342

*Please contact us if you would like to negotiate an alernative payment amount or method- we’re open to barter, alternative currency, etc.